Jackson Mayor John Horhn issued the following statement.
The City of Jackson is notifying residents and visitors of newly adopted parade ordinances that will be in effect for this year’s Hal’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade and related festivities in downtown Jackson. These rules, approved by the Jackson City Council in November 2025, introduce new requirements that differ from previous years and aim to ensure a safer, more orderly, and family-friendly parade experience. The new provisions apply to parade organizers, participants, vendors, and spectators along the route.
Key Changes
Under the ordinance, it is unlawful within the Downtown Business Improvement District during designated parade hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on parade day) to engage in the following activities, except where specifically permitted in writing by the City:
· Using or operating grills, barbecues, smokers, open‑flame cooking appliances, or other open burning along the parade route.
· Performing cooking, including frying with cooking oils or grease, along the parade route unless specifically approved and contained under a City‑issued permit.
· Possessing or using glass containers, including bottles, jars, and drinking glasses, along the parade route.
· Operating, parking, or bringing in specialty vehicles such as all‑terrain vehicles (ATVs), golf carts, low‑speed vehicles, and other off‑road or specialty vehicles along the parade route, unless permitted.
· Placing or maintaining portable toilet units along the parade route except as approved under a permit or as part of an authorized event footprint.
Four hours prior to the scheduled start time of any parade within the Downtown Business Improvement District, it is also unlawful for individuals, organizations, or other entities to fence, rope off, or stake out any area of public property along the parade route. The only exception is when the City’s special events committee approves protective measures for plants and landscaping.
The ordinance further prohibits the carrying of firearms by parade participants and attendees, with an exemption for duly commissioned law enforcement officers, and subject to state law regarding enhanced concealed carry licenses. These provisions are adopted pursuant to state authority that allows municipalities to regulate firearms at parades for public safety while respecting constitutional rights.
Enforcement by Law Enforcement Agencies
The Jackson Police Department and the Mississippi Capitol Police will enforce these new ordinances throughout this year’s Hal’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade. Officers will be deployed along the route and within the Downtown Business Improvement District to monitor compliance with rules related to cooking, glass containers, specialty vehicles, portable toilets, fencing or staking off public property, and the prohibition on firearms.
Violations may result in items being confiscated, permits being revoked, citations being issued, or individuals being removed from the parade area when necessary to protect public safety and maintain order. Parade‑goers are strongly encouraged to plan ahead and adjust traditions that may conflict with the new rules.
Mayor Urges Public Cooperation
“We are committed to making Hal’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade safe and enjoyable for everyone who comes downtown,” said Mayor John Horhn. “These new parade rules will help keep families safe, reduce risks from things like open flames and glass, and make sure our first responders can do their jobs. I’m asking everyone to do their part this year. Leave the glass and grills at home, follow the directions of Jackson Police and Capitol Police, and help us show that Jackson can celebrate responsibly while still having a great time.”
Mayor Horhn emphasized that the parade remains one of the city’s signature cultural events and that these ordinances are designed to preserve, not restrict, the spirit of the celebration. “If we all follow the rules, respect each other, and cooperate with law enforcement, we can have the safest and most fun Hal’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade Jackson has ever seen,” he said.
Plan Ahead and Review the Rules
Residents and visitors are urged to review the ordinance before parade day to ensure compliance and avoid delays or enforcement actions. The full text of the ordinance is available through the City Clerk’s Office and on the City of Jackson’s website at jacksonms.gov/parade-ordinance
43 comments:
Good! It was the wild west last year! And 90% of the crowd WAS NOT IRISH.
It seems like there aren’t any parades anymore that are family friendly and still a big deal. Everything has turned into smokin dope, drinking from the don julio bottle, shaking ass, snatchin’ weaves, slappin’ a bitch, being obnoxious at every public event. This parade and most every St. Patrick’s day parade was a family friendly way to celebrate Irish heritage, and now they are all drunk retard fests that the culture destroys. Take a look at what happened in Dallas a couple weekends back.
Tell the mayor that it isn’t the Hal’s St. Paddy’s “Day” Parade!
I wish they would move it out of Jackson. Maybe Madison?
Good post. Reasonable ordinances.
Have no doubt there will be some cultural faux pas.
Good luck with enforcement!
Crank up the GNR, Welcome to the Jungle.
"It seems like there aren’t any parades anymore that are family friendly and still a big deal. Everything has turned into smokin dope, drinking from the don julio bottle, shaking ass, snatchin’ weaves, slappin’ a bitch, being obnoxious at every public event. This parade and most every St. Patrick’s day parade was a family friendly way to celebrate Irish heritage, and now they are all drunk retard fests that the culture destroys. Take a look at what happened in Dallas a couple weekends back.
March 26, 2026 at 7:10 PM"
Yeah, you're probably gonna want to move to Utah, Montana or Idaho.
twerking children still allowed
@7:58 Are you crazy? You don’t want a massive parade like this in Madison, and I say this as a Jacksonian. I think that sounded better in your mind than it would actually be. This is a drunk fest and the culture has taken over public drunk fests.
Madison doesn't want the freak show coming to town.
"The ordinance further prohibits the carrying of firearms by parade participants and attendees" Someone needs to challenge that in court.
Malcolm was determined to get the parade "more diverse". Well congratulations. Beware what you ask for. You may get it and you did, and it ruined the parade in the process. Never had these rules before, nor did we need to.
Maybe if there were laws prohibiting shooting someone?
Prayers up that it all goes off with out a hitch, but the fatigue is real and getting worse.
https://x.com/akafaceus/status/2037005871725896033?s=42
@7:58 you should watch the vid linked above to see what Democrats have done to not only our once great city of Jackson, but much of our country…..with their absolute love of crime and criminals.
In fairness if you didn’t mean the City of Madison but somewhere in Madison County, this might work extremely well since RINO Stupidvisor Gerald Steen and RINO Ridgeland Mayor have turned Madison County over to Democrats…..so its heading in the same exact direction as Jackson.
P.S. And for all of you that watch the vid and think racist thoughts, be advised that many a “black man’s comin’ round” with lots of phenomenal YouTubers exposing Democrats for exactly what they are, the Party of Crime.
Cause everything's better there, right?!?! Maybe export the homeless population there and that would be a right step for Jackson. I think the regional bus stop and train stop should be moved to Madison and out of downtown. That would be a great start to revitalize downtown Jackson.
With that Mayor's policies (like the Christmas parade), that would kill the parade.
From the beginning there were rowdy young white guys who had been drinking on and off the floats. There were a few fist fights here and there as a result. But no one brought their real guns into town ! We learned during the first hundred and fifty years that allowing guns in places where strangers gather was a bad idea. Then we wanted to believe we were civilized enough. Europe already knew that wasn't going to happen.
Maybe have a different location for just the thugs and rednecks. Fairgrounds?
We need some rules a society...You can't have a St Paddy's day parade 11 days after St. Paddys.
@7:35AM is the perfect bait & switch Democrat, blaming it on the guns.
For those naïve enough to believe @7:35’s BS, rest assure there’s more guns per capita in the suburbs where the crime is a fraction of what it is in Party of Crime Democrat controlled for decades Jackson, MS.
Bottom line, the St Paddy Day Parade could be held in the burbs with a ban on anybody that votes Democrat attending, and it would be greats times with no life threatening violence at all.
Yeah pretty lame
You know a bunch will say, "They don't mean me.I've been doing this for years".
It wasn’t run efficiently and went well until Chokwe was in office… then out of the blue people started setting up cookers smokers and playing loud boom boxes etc like it was some jsu. Tailgate. It became nothing what it was originally intended to be.
Why was it scheduled so long after actual St Paddy’s day??
This parade seems to be going the way of Pops.
Jackson is a lost cause. We should call it already. As long as Jackson keeps voting the same mentality as mayor, it will get progressively worse.
I was going to approve your comment, provocative it was, but then you went too far and started talking about how the Jews killed Charlie Kirk. Not allowing that trash, trash.
Look at Hattiesburg’s Hub Fest rules for tomorrow which includes no pets/animals including snakes! No wants to see your pets take them to a park where this is permitted. If one bites my child I am doing a Christie Noem!
Waaaaallll... I personally don't see how anyone can expect to have an outdoor event that NOBODY WILL EVER BE ABLE TO FORGET, without an adequate supply of propane tanks and giant, precariously-positioned cauldrons of boiling oil.
What could be better, for setting at the edge of a street, in a densely-packed crowd? (a crowd, I might add, prone to stampedes - such as when gunshots are heard - or backfiring SUVs - or fireworks, or...)
Blatantly unconstitutional and contrary to MS law and AG opinion.
Wow—a lot of people on here are super eager to bash black people over something that doesn’t specifically relate to black people (at least not more than any other large group in this area). Could it be that this site (for whatever reason) has attracted many foam-at-the-mouth racists?
How ironic, as you guys are always getting on here and bitching about black people race baiting…
A lot of the people setting up grills are selling their food. This has to violate plenty of city ordinances and even state health codes. Not that any of these things are something the City cares about.
“Ladies and gentlemen, what you’re seeing is a total disregard for the things St. Patrick’s Day stands for. All this drinking, violence, destruction of property—are these the things we think of when we think of the Irish?”— Kent Brockman
1:01 I hope KF allows this, because it's simply the truth: why are you surprised there are so many "racists?" As a white male, I've been told that, not only am I a white supremacist, but that, being born white, I'm inherently racist and can never expect to be anything else. Do you remember those claims over the last 5 or so years? I do.
Therefore, even though I'm inclined NOT to be racist, why should I try not to be, as I've been constantly been told I can't be any thing BUT racist. I might as well just do whatever I want, racist or not! Do you see how the constant claims from the left has done nothing but foment the very thing they've "tried so hard to prevent?"
Just realize that people like you have done nothing but dredge up patterns that, until you started, was getting exponentially better over the years! (I remember the 60s and 70s, so I can say so for SURE). Now, you and your ilk have no one to blame but yourselves!
@1:01pm Wow, who mentioned any specific race? You mean to tell me you read the behaviors described and though of black people? How racist! Idiot!!
Maybe the mayor can get that fat girl dancing nude at Pop’s to perform on the parade route. Talk about really bringing in the crowd.
Why are y’all so upset? You’re all too afraid of black folks to even step outside, so it doesn’t really affect you.
March 27, 2026 at 1:01 PM
What specific comments are you referring to? Surely you can point them out.
Hey 7:42 PM let me update you because it was change 10 years ago where have you been? LMAO via Cledge --> It was officially renamed to honor Malcolm White's late brother, Hal White (who passed away in 2013), and rebranded as Hal's St. Paddy's Parade and Festival. The name change was announced on January 26, 2016, and first applied to the March 19, 2016, event (with the theme “HAL’lelu’Y’all”).
Dear Robinhood,
Please stay at home this year.
Regards,
CoJ
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