World's wackiest St. Patrick's Day celebrations

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• Photo gallery / The wonderful wackiness of St. Patrick's Day / Click here
  
 
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The shortest parade, the worst, the longest, the coldest, the largest shamrock, and the snake race – all the information you need to make your St. Patrick's season fun.

The World's shortest St. Patrick's Day parade:

The shortest parade is always held on March 17th on historic Bridge Street in downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas. Bridge Street became famous in the 1940s when “Ripley's Believe It or Not” designated it "The Shortest Street in the World." Having earned this distinction, the Hot Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau deemed Bridge Street the most logical location for this novel parade.

World's worst St. Patrick's parade

Chicago's South Side parade got cancelled this year but local bar owner Gerry O'Connell is having his own parade – around his bar “Irish Eyes.” O'Connell plans to pay homage to the currently defunct Chicago tradition.

"The South Side [parade] was cancelled," he said. "So what we're doing, is we're starting at the south side of the bar, and we're going to come around from the south side and parade the whole bar. And we're going to salute the South Side, because we'd like them to have their parade.
 
World's coldest St. Patrick's celebration:

Bering Sea Ice St. Patrick's Golf Classic: Third Saturday of March in Nome Alaska. Six -hole course played on the frozen Bering Sea with bright orange golf balls. Par is 41. Cash prizes for best scores. $50 entry fee includes a t-shirt, hat, golf balls, tees (old shotgun shells), snakebite remedies (small bottles of vodka) and a certificate of completion.

World's smallest St. Patrick's celebration:

Can you say one? That's right, this is a party for one, and it has occurred every St. Patrick's Day since 1993 in the town of Enterprise, Alabama.

A different person of Irish descent each year holds the Irish flag high above his/her head, carries a pot o' gold and recites limericks as he/she walks past the local courthouse and around the Bol Weevil Monument. (Yes, Enterprise is the only American city with a monument of a pest. Don't ask!)

Grand Marshals in absentia are nominated and selected on the basis of their written acceptance speech, plus their reasons for not being able to attend the parade. In other words, anyone can be a Grand Marshal.

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