Photos: Bemidji's 'Shortest St. Pat's parade' parties for the title

Stacey Gamber and the Alida Triangle Ragin' Cajuns arrive for the parade.
Stacey Gamber and the Alida Triangle Ragin' Cajuns from Clearwater County arrive just in time for the parade. They "hope to get the Guinness Book of World Records to recognize us as the shortest St. Paddy's Day Parade."
Monika Lawrence for MPR News

Bemidji celebrated St Patrick's Day on Saturday with a 78-pace-long parade downtown between Brigid's Pub and the Keg n' Cork, a bar that calls itself the first Irish pub on the Mississippi.

Organizers call it the "World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade." It lasts all of five minutes, starting at 5:30 p.m. and ending at 5:35 p.m.

About 400 people from the region and beyond, dressed up in green (or not), to celebrate Irish heritage and enjoy the sunny afternoon.

Bemidji's parade tradition started 17 years ago, but a handful of other cities in the U.S. — Hot Springs, Ark., Boulder, Colo., Urbana, Ill. and Hopkins, Minn. — claim to have the "World's Shortest St. Patrick's Parade."

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