Main Street to host Shamrockin’ on the Square

Main Street El Dorado will kick off the 2024 festival season in El Dorado this week with Shamrockin’ on the Square.

The St. Patrick’s Day celebration will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday in downtown El Dorado.

Admission for Shamrockin’ is free and some activities are paid.

The event will include live music, food, Fun Zone/ games, a beer garden, vendors and more.

The Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship and Green or Gold, a heads-or-tails game of chance presented by Noalmark Broadcasting, will make their return to Shamrockin’.

The entry fee is $5 for the Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship. Participants must be at least 10 years old to play.

The winner will receive a trophy and bragging rights.

One lucky winner will take home a $200 cash prize in the Green and Gold Challenge. The game is free and players must be at least 12 years old.

Attendees will also have an opportunity to win prizes in a scavenger hunt that will take place throughout the day.

MSE is also introducing a new activity to Shamrokin’ this year.

Attendees are encouraged to don their “best green attire” and pet owners are asked to do the same for their pets in the first Patty Paw Parade.

The pet parade will begin at 12:30 p.m.

There is no entry fee for the parade. Donations — money, pet food, etc. — will be accepted.

Beth Brumley, executive director of MSE, previously said the group was looking to add other activities to Shamrockin’ this year in the absence of one of the event’s notable activities: the Grill Wars cooking competition.

A chili cook-off, sanctioned by the International Chili Society, that is typically held during Shamrockin’ has been rescheduled to April.

MSE officials explained that several contestants who usually compete in the chili cook-off have signed up for steak cooking-competitions that are scheduled this weekend in Texas and are sanctioned by the Steak Cookoff Association.

The chili cook-off will be held in April to coincide with Airstreams on the Square 2024.

Airstreams, which is traditionally held in the fall, has been scheduled for April 25 - 29.

Members of the Arkansas Razorback Airstreams Club, who partners with MSE to host the annual Airstreams on the Square in El Dorado, scheduled the 2024 event for April because they plan to attend the 67th annual Airstream Club International Rally, which is set for Oct. 5 - 10 in Missouri, MSE officials have said.

Airstreams on the Square us part of a campaign to stage Main Street/urban camping events across the country in order to promote the RV lifestyle and help stimulate economic development and vitality in small-town America.

El Dorado is the only city in Arkansas to host such an event, during which dozens of air-streamers camp out in the downtown square for several days, while hosting activities that include the public and supporting the local economy and charitable organizations.

“We seem to have a lot of success (with activities that feature) animals and kids, so we’ve added that in for this event,” Brumley previously said in reference to the Patty Paw Parade.

First-, second- and thirdplace winners will be awarded prizes in the Patty Paw Parade. A Best of Parade prize will also be awarded.

Earlier concerns about the availability of crawfish for Shamrockin’ this year have been alleviated, said Brumley.

The seasonal favorite has become a staple during Shamrockin’.

Brumley previously cited higher prices for mudbugs as a potential block to serving them at Shamrockin’ 2024.

Additionally, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry recently issued a disaster declaration for the state’s crawfish industry due to a shortage in crawfish production this year.

Brumley offered assurances that there will be plenty of crawfish and shrimp to go around Saturday.

Food vendor Ragun Cajun will be on hand selling crawfish plates for $35, shrimp plates for $25 and combination plates with shrimp and crawfish for $30.

All plates come with potatoes and corn.

Chicken and sausage gumbo and red beans and rice, both with cornbread, will also be on sale for $10 each.

The schedule for Shamrockin’ is:

• 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Trey Gauthreaux, a Louisiana singer, will take the stage.

• 12:30 p.m., Patty Paw Parade.

• 1:15 p.m. Green or Gold Challenge.

• 1:30 p.m., Registration for Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship. The competition will begin at 2 p.m.

For more information about Shamrockin’, visit www.mainstreeteldorado.org or the MSE Facebook page.