Hal's St. Paddy's Day Parade will go on in 2020, but long-term concerns remain

Justin Vicory | Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Show Caption Hide Caption Sweet Potato Queens march in Hals St. Paddy's Day Parade in Jackson, MS It's the first Hal's St. Paddy's Day Parade for some and a splendid return for others. The Sweet Potato Queens are back.

This year at least, the parade will go on.

Thanks to a couple of donations made at the last minute, parade organizers of the Hal's St. Paddy's Parade & Festival have secured the funding necessary to pay for parade insurance and rent hundreds of specialty barricades.

The announcement on Tuesday by event founder and key organizer Malcolm White at a news conference prompted smiles from those in attendance, many of them parade organizers and sponsors.

This year's parade will take place on March 28. The theme is "Here's looking Rude, Kid."

The parade and festival has been an ongoing Jackson tradition since it began in 1983.

Still long-terms issues with parade

White said he was happy the parade will go on but said there are still long-term issues with public safety and the cost of insurance for the event that will have to be worked out.

Earlier this month, he expressed those concerns in a social media post and said "the time has come to re-evaluate and take a serious look at where we go from here."

White quickly deleted the Facebook post.

"It was drawing a lot of negative attention. I stand by what I said, but I'm not going to let others tear down the city of Jackson, the city I've chosen to live in," he said.

After hearing of the parade concerns, Visit Jackson stepped in with a $15,000 donation and Downtown Jackson Partners contributed another $10,000. The $25,000 helped parade organizers raise the $45,000 needed to hold the parade, White said.

12,000 feet of barricades needed

Getting specialized barricades for the parade was a priority for public safety, White said.

It costs about $30,000 to rent the 1,500 "specialty" barricades for the parade. The barricades are interlocking, and without gaps, to prevent people — especially children— from walking in and out of the parade route.

The cost to purchase the barricades outright is $80,000, not including the cost of storage and transportation, White said.

White said he has tried to get the city of Jackson to contribute funding for the barricades, noting they could be used for all city parades and events in the future. He said those funding requests to the city have been unsuccessful.

Turning to a non-profit?

White also said he is looking at transforming the organizational structure behind the parade into a non-profit, similar to that of the Mississippi Book Festival.

He said this would allow donations to parade sponsor Children's of Mississippi Children’s, part of the University of Mississippi Medical Center including Batson Children's Hospital, to be tax-deductible and also separate the traditional after party at Hal and Mal's from the parade itself.

What you need to know about this year's parade

The parade will begin at 1 p.m. on March 28. Tickets for the after party are $10 and can be purchased online at SEE tickets. Here's the link.

A list of performers has been released. They are:

AJC the DJ will emcee the parade

Mustache The Band, a 90s "country party band"

The Chee-Weez, a five piece tribute/show band out of New Orleans

This year's Grand Marshal is Trace Alston.

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Contact Justin Vicory at 769-572-1418 or jvicory@gannett.com. Follow @justinvicory on Twitter.