A 2-minute St. Patrick's Day parade? This Alberta town has long tradition of short marches

If you're planning on heading to Carmangay for the village's annual St. Patrick's Day parade, you'd best arrive on time.

The parade starts promptly at 11 a.m.

And it'll be over by 11:02.

"You don't want to be late," Carmangay Mayor Kym Nichols told the Calgary Eyeopener.

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Though the parade itself maybe short, its roots stretch back a long ways.

"About 32 years ago, the owner of the hotel, who was Irish, came over to the village office with his shillelagh stick on St. Paddy's Day and said to the mayor at the time, 'Why don't you come across and have a beer with me for St. Patrick's Day?'" explains Nichols.

"And that started it."

Today, the parade covers the distance of less than 100 metres. Though the parade hasbeen billed as the world's shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade, it appears thatHot Springs National Park, Arkansas, with its 29-metre march, may take that title.

And while you can't expect extravagance the only float in the parade is an old farm truck with stock racks on the back Nichols says theparade promises to be a good time for the village's 260 residents.

"Everybody goes to the dollar stores to get their green on," she says. "This year we're actually sellingt-shirts."

Carmangay is about 90 minutes southeast of Calgary.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener