01/25/2026
🥁👑 Drum roll please...announcing your 2026 Parade King & Queen, Monte Everhart and JoAnn Mangione! 👑☘️
Retired Hot Springs businessman and World's Largest Leprechaun, Monte Everhart, will reign as King, and JoAnn Mangione, editor and publisher of the city's monthly tourism publication - The Springs Magazine, will reign as Queen to a crowd of thousands of their “subjects” as they ride down 98-foot Bridge Street at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17!
“Being selected King in this, my final year as the World’s Largest Leprechaun, came as a complete surprise,” Everhart said. “I will really miss being part of something that has allowed me to make some incredible memories.”
Everhart, who has delighted crowds for years as the World’s Largest Leprechaun, will hand over his shillelagh at the beginning of the parade. He assumed the role of the huge leprechaun in 2021 on the death of his friend, Dick Antoine, who originated the role.
“I would like to thank the parade organizers for allowing me to put on the green suit and represent this town that I love so much and to carry on the tradition started by the original World’s Tallest Leprechaun, my friend, the late Dick Antoine,” Everhart said.
Mangione said of her selection as Queen of the parade, “I’m grinning like a kid who just found the Lucky Charm float. I can’t wait to wave, cheer, and probably throw in a few dance moves — no promises on coordination. You’ve given me the best excuse to wear something sparkly and ridiculous in public — and I’m here for it. Seriously, I’m honored, excited, and ready to bring all the good vibes. Let’s make this parade one for the memory books… and maybe the blooper reel too.”
“To my subjects I proclaim that you must party on,” Everhart said when asked if he had any commands to his “subjects”. Answering the same question, Mangione replied, “Let them eat cake! Preferably from recipes they find on my page.”
✨ Learn more about this year's exciting lineup of guests and help plan your visit for the parade here: https://hotsprings.org/events/23rd-worlds-shortest-st-patricks-day-parade/
