Hip-hop performer Flavor Flav will be the official starter for the First Ever 22nd Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, organizers announced today, Thursday, August 15,
Flavor Flav will be the official starter on Monday, March 17 for the First Ever 22nd Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas.
“Flavor Flav is one of the most recognizable legends in entertainment, and in March he will bring his contagious energy to our big little parade,” Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said Monday.
“He’ll be the perfect person to fire the official starter’s pistol when our parade steps off on 98-foot Bridge Street.”
Flavor Flav joins a fascinating list of prior Parade Starters, including Forrie J Smith in 2024, Danny Trejo in 2019, Ric Flair in 2017, and Gary Busey in 2016.
Similarly, the parade has had some notable Grand Marshals, including Emmitt Smith in 2024, Cheech Marin in 2022, Ralph Macchio in 2019, and Joey Fatone in 2018.
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Parade organizers note that Flavor Flav is a Hall of Fame rapper, co-founder of the pioneering hip-hop group Public Enemy, and musical prodigy who is proficient on 15 instruments.
He first burst onto the scene in the late 1980s when he emerged as a co-founder of Public Enemy. Possessing the most sampled voice in the history of hip-hop, Flavor Flav (along with his group) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2020.
In addition to his culture-shifting career in hip-hop, Flavor Flav made a foray into reality television, where his series, “Flavor of Love,” achieved 7.5 million viewers during its Season 2 finale and was the highest-rated non-sports programming that year, and highest-rated show for VH1 all-time.
As he continues to perform with Public Enemy, including the 2023 GRAMMY Awards, Flavor Flav has expanded his talents to scripted television, feature films, narrative film, voice-over acting, podcaster, documentary production, and book author.
Organizers say that the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade annually attracts upwards of 30,000 fans to downtown Hot Springs where a zany array of floats, marching bands, Irish Elvis impersonators, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, wacky costumed groups, and guest celebrities cover the 98-foot Bridge Street parade route on the World’s Shortest Street in Everyday Use.
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