Comedian Cheech Marin back on board with Hot Springs' St. Patrick's Day Parade

HOT SPRINGS -- Cheech Marin, one half of the legendary comedy duo of Cheech and Chong, has agreed again to be the celebrity grand marshal of the First Ever 19th Annual World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 17, 2022, Visit Hot Springs announced Thursday.

Marin had been scheduled as the grand marshal for the parade in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic forced Visit Hot Springs to hold "drastically" scaled-back versions in 2020 and 2021.

"We did have a parade -- of sorts -- those two years, just to keep up the tradition of having a parade, rain or shine," Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said Thursday in a news release.

"In 2020, we had a single marcher cover the 98-foot distance of Bridge Street, the world's shortest street in everyday use. In 2021, we had a greatly reduced version of the parade, minus the cheering crowds that we normally would have had," Arrison said.

"Now, we're halfway to the 2022 parade, and we plan to kick out the jams and get back to the tremendous little parade that has been named among the Top 10 St. Patrick's Day parades in the world. Cheech will fit in perfectly with the zany, fun-for-all atmosphere that defines the World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade."

In addition to the usual groups of marchers, musicians, green Irish wolfhounds, the World's Tallest Leprechaun, floats and dancers, the newly established Bridge Street Entertainment District will "allow more freedom for our crowds to enjoy the tremendous fun atmosphere the parade brings to downtown Hot Springs," Arrison said.

Marin, in an interview with The Sentinel-Record in early 2020 before the parade first being canceled, said he was delighted with the idea of having a parade deemed to be the "world's shortest" of its kind.

"Bridge Street, I love that man," Marin said in the interview. "That's a way to have a parade, because I've been in a lot of parades before and you ride [a long time] and, depending on the weather, you get frozen or frostbite or burnt."

Six of the Cheech & Chong albums went gold, four were nominated for Grammys, and "Los Cochinos" won the 1973 Grammy for Best Comedy Recording. The duo starred in eight features together.

During a split with Tommy Chong, Cheech wrote, directed and starred in the comedy "Born in East L.A." He appeared in more than 25 films, including his "scene-stealing role" in "Tin Cup," and in eight films directed by Robert Rodriguez.

Cheech was a sitcom regular before joining Don Johnson on the CBS drama "Nash Bridges." He has been featured in Disney Pixar animation films including "Oliver & Company," "The Lion King" and "Cars," and is an author of children's books, including "Cheech the School Bus Driver."

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