- I'm Mario Luna, and I love to celebrate.

As a professional DJ and performer, I'm just getting started.

(crowd cheering) Ever since I was a kid, I loved being where the party was at and making sure everyone was having a good time.

After a career of hosting the most amazing events, from backyard barbecues to citywide celebrations, I realize Arkansans live in a beautiful place, and each and every one of us from every walk of life has a reason to celebrate.

And I wanna see them all, let's go!

(upbeat music) Join me as I search for the heart of the state and the life of the party, on "Celebrating Arkansas Holiday Traditions."

(bright music) (lawn mower rumbling) Hey!

(Mario laughs) Hey guys, hey, there's no doubt about it, summer is in the air in the natural state, and it's one of my very favorite times of the year.

(birds chirping) Can you blame me?

From the excitement of a summer ball game, to the thrill of a perfect high dive, to the tastiest of summer time treats, when spring and summer arrive here in the South, Arkansans have a huge list of reasons to celebrate, and as the folks in Hot Springs know, if you're lucky enough to live in Arkansas, sometimes the biggest celebrations come in the smallest packages.

(trumpet fanfare) - [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, that means we can have a parade!

(traditional Irish music) - [Mario] When it comes to St. Patrick Day celebrations, the city of Hot Springs is happy to come up a little short, because it's home to the world's shortest St. Patrick's Day parade.

(announcer speaking indistinctly) (crowd cheering) - There's just so much noise and so much action happening at the same time.

(traditional Irish music) It's just so fun how many different residents of Hot Springs will come to this parade, how many are involved in this parade, and the tradition of this parade.

- [Mario] From its humble beginning in 2004 with just a few thousand attendees, the world's shortest St. Patrick's Day parade has evolved into an anticipated tradition that is now celebrated by over 30,000 people each year.

- [Participant] Some of the people that I've danced around with and done other things with, they've been doing this for 20 years.

This will only be the second year I've done it.

And after one time, I was just hooked.

This is literally one of the highlights of my whole year.

- [Mario] What this parade lacks in length, it makes up for in spectacle.

The world's shortest St. Patrick's Day parade is one for the history books, "The Guinness Book of World Records" that is.

- Here we go.

We're about to measure off a 98 foot parade line.

24 feet.

There goes 40.

There goes 70.

And 98, right here.

(announcer speaking indistinctly) (crowd cheering) We're still the world's shortest St. Patrick's Day parade.

And there it is, 98 feet on the nose!

(crowd cheering) - [Participant] To see 30,000 people cheering on the world's shortest St. Patrick's Day parade is just an amazing experience.

- [Mario] This event is packed with wacky traditions, like the annual kissing of the Arkansas Blarney stone that is memorialized on the downtown strip.

- [Participant 2] A kiss off everybody.

- Pucker up, dear rock of mine.

(crowd cheering) - [Mario] And you never know who or what you might run into, whether it be a famous musician, (announcer speaks indistinctly) a Hollywood actor, (crowd cheering) the world's largest leprechaun, or even the world's largest potato.

You can make a lot of french fries with that one.

- [Participant] You can literally feel the emotions of everyone involved in it all at the same time.

You feel that much passion and that much just excitement for one parade.

It's just an amazing experience.

(gentle music) - Only in Arkansas will you find the world's largest leprechaun attending the world's shortest St. Patty's parade.

Maybe some striped stockings can help you look a bit taller.

Even though the Hot Springs St. Patty's parade has only been around for a little over two decades, across the globe, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated since all the way back in 1631, honoring St. Patrick, a missionary, priest, and later bishop, who is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland.

But even with four centuries of history, St. Patrick's Day is far from being the oldest of spring holidays.

When the weather turns warm and the flowers begin to bloom, many Arkansans still celebrate a tradition older than 1800 years and still going strong.

(upbeat music) - The Easter egg hunt is just a ton of fun.

I mean, try controlling the chaos of a few hundred kids at one time.

It's impossible to do.

(upbeat music) This is the market in Chanal.

We've been doing this for about a year.

It's just a big outdoor farmer's market with a lot of other family activities surrounding it.

We bring in food trucks, we bring in bouncy houses, got a little music out here.

We just kind of do all of these things to celebrate the spring weather to come together as a community.

And just to find some ways to celebrate the holiday that we're on.

(upbeat music) We actually had 4,000 Easter eggs out here, and it took a long time to stuff 'em.

I can tell you that.

But it looks like from the smiles on the faces, that all the kids had a great time chasing those Easter eggs.

Seeing the Easter bunny and the spring fairy.

- I'm dressed up as the spring fairy and I am standing with the very handsome and very popular Easter bunny.

Super happy to be out here, to be part of this fun event.

I'm here to spread joy and sunshine and flowers and magic.

- Wanna go say hi to the Easter Bunny?

(upbeat music) - Whether it is a little fun character throughout the holidays or whether it's a certain game that families play, it's just those little things that make each day a little bit magic.

Hello, hello.

- I like your dress.

- Thank you, happy spring, happy Easter.

Look, can you wave at the camera?

- Hello!

(chickens cluck) (gentle music, chickens cluck) - Many communities across the state enjoy a great egg hunt on Easter.

While the story of St. Patrick began in Ireland, the Easter Bunny originated from German culture before becoming the more Americanized tradition we recognize today.

And that's what I love about celebrations in the natural state.

Our people take their celebrations and allow them to grow and change into something new and uniquely Arkansan.

But every once in a while, you find a tradition that has changed very little.

These celebrations allow us to travel the world or back in time without even leaving home.

(chicken clucks) (upbeat music) - Hey Mario.

Come on in.

- I will, thank you.

- I am Lorrie Popow and I'm a pysanky artist.

I've done maybe thousands of eggs.

I just don't know how many.

(upbeat music) We have quail, ostrich, goose, and some chicken eggs.

We even have finch.

We're writing symbols, symbols of love, happiness, symbols of fertility.

- I can see your passion here.

What was it about doing eggs that really put it into bringing this to light?

- I was a caregiver.

I had three children, but I also took care of my father-in-law for 13 years.

My mother had a stroke, and my husband's mother was elderly.

So we brought both mothers here, and we took care of them.

All the time I was constantly working, and the eggs kept me in a happy place.

When you read a book, you escape.

This is what happened with me with the eggs.

I was able to escape with all the creating of different designs.

Then it became a challenge.

- And you're self-taught?

- I'm self-taught.

I started my journey in about 1956, Easter time.

In those days, I had to go to the neighborhood grocery store, and the store was owned by a Ukrainian family.

They would have cartons of eggs, the pysanky, the Ukrainian style eggs.

I fell in love with them, the colors, the designs.

I literally studied them while I was there.

This ostrich egg here is definitely a Lorrie Popow egg.

- [Mario] It's a puzzle.

- Look at the puzzle pieces.

What does it say?

It says Lorrie Popow and.

- No way.

(Lorrie laughs) - And the thing about it is that I'm not Ukrainian, but I did marry into a Ukrainian family.

So we shared this love of the pysanky.

- [Mario] All this detail.

How do you do this?

- There's a process.

Let me show you how.

- [Mario] Oh, please.

- Let's go.

Mario, this is the design we're going to do on this egg.

- Hold on, that is way advanced for my.

- It's the beginning egg.

You'll do fine.

- Ooh.

- They usually say, I can't do that.

And I go, no, I can't either.

You have to start with one line at a time.

From that line you build.

We're going to go ahead and wax in just certain areas that are going to remain white.

- [Mario] Oh, wow.

- Mhm.

Because the egg is white, you're sealing in that color.

- [Mario] Okay.

- And that's how we do it with all the dyes.

We're sealing in each layer.

- [Mario] For each color, we're gonna do one step at a time.

- One step at a time.

Okay, time for the final dye.

- [Mario] Whoa, okay.

- Mario, you did a great job.

When they remove the wax and see what they did, they can't believe it.

And then they wanna continue.

They want to learn more.

- I can't believe that we've done this.

- No, you did this.

- My goodness.

Wow.

- I have a surprise for you.

Are you ready?

- Let's go.

(upbeat music) (Mario laughs) Y'all, here we go.

Arkansas PBS in the house.

Lorrie, thank you so much.

- [Lorrie] Thank you.

- Give you a hug.

- I love doing pysanky.

I've done it for so many years.

It's part of me.

I have many people that call me and say, because of you, I learned how to do this art that I've always wanted to learn.

This has given me such pleasure, knowing that I've been able to pass this art on.

It's a beautiful Easter tradition.

- I love it.

Come here.

I love it.

Just like, oh.

Traditions, like parades, egg hunts, and pysanky art are holdovers from traditions of holidays around the world.

But thanks to dedicated practitioners, they live on today.

After a lifetime of dyes and wax, Lorrie has become a modern master of the Ukrainian art right here in Arkansas.

But some holidays aren't centuries old.

Some holidays were born right here in America.

(gentle music) Juneteenth or Freedom Day is one of those holidays honoring the date when the last African Americans were freed from slavery, June 19th, 1865.

Juneteenth was first recognized as a national holiday in 2021, but for the small town of Wilmar, mid-June has been reason to celebrate long before the holiday became nationally recognized.

(meat sizzles) (upbeat music) - [Resident] Juneteenth has always been big, big in Wilmar.

♪ We're going to have a good time ♪ ♪ Really a good time ♪ Havin' some good times, good good times ♪ ♪ A really, really good time ♪ A real good time ♪ We're havin' a good time - Today we are celebrating our Juneteenth, which in Wilmar, is called the June dinner, and we've been celebrating it since the late 1800s.

(upbeat music) - [Mario] This small town of roughly 500 residents multiplies in size every June with a celebration that has spanned over 150 years.

- We are so grateful that now everybody in the state, everybody in the nation knows Juneteenth.

- We knew we were doing a Juneteenth celebration, but our Juneteenth was called June Dinner.

- [Mario] June 19th, 1865.

The last remaining slaves in Galveston, Texas were notified by Union soldiers that slavery had been abolished.

A little more than two years after Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

This day would become known as Juneteenth or Freedom Day.

- We are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, that celebrates Juneteenth in Arkansas.

- It was in 1868 that the first June dinner was in Arkansas.

My grandfather's grandfather bought June dinner back to Wilmar, Arkansas.

My grandfather was born in 1908.

The concept of June dinner was instilled in him based on oral history.

- When our ancestors found out about the slaves being freed, they started celebrating with just one big dinner on this campus right here.

- [Participant 3] Everybody got together and brought a dish of their own to this event, but they had set aside to have a dinner together to celebrate freedom.

It became so popular, they continued it from its conception up until now.

June dinner was so anticipated that people could hardly contain their excitement as June rolled in, 'cause that's all they had.

The whole year long was this one day.

- [Mario] From the original June dinner to now, the celebration has always been held at the same spot.

- That was the Wilmar Colored School.

That's the sacred ground up there.

That's where everyone received their education.

That was the only public property black people had access to, to be allowed to do anything.

You can't move it from there 'cause it's too close to everybody's heart.

I try to see these newly freed slaves bringing to the table, something from their home so that everybody can get some of it, and they feel like they're participating in this dinner.

They didn't have cows, so they used goats.

They used greens.

They used what they had to cook with to bring to the dinner, and then they started branching off into activities that coincided with that dinner.

(car roars, crowd cheers) - [Mario] Over time, June dinner has grown to include new traditions in their Juneteenth celebration.

Today, the city of Wilmar kicks off the festivities with a parade.

- [Participant 3] We have people coming in here today from all over the United States.

We expect at least 2,500 people to come through here during the day.

- Hey, hey.

All the way from Anchorage, Alaska.

- Chicago.

I'm a visitor.

Wilmar, I'm at home.

- [Mario] What started out as a one day event has now grown into a full weekend of festivities with activities that include a car show, pageants, and even a burnout competition.

(upbeat music) (motorcycle revs) - [Participant 3] People plan their family reunions around this day because it gives 'em an opportunity to see a lot of loved ones and different people that they grew up with.

- I come here every year to see my family.

There ain't nothing like family.

Family is energy to me.

- [Host] If not for the leaps, your elders went down, none of this would have been conceivable.

So thank them for their love and care because with these gifts, anything's achievable.

- A few months ago, we passed around these bracelets.

They have a heart on them that's representative of a family's love.

You don't always have to be together to know that your family loves you, to know that they're a part of you.

So this is a reminder that we're wanting to send everybody with.

- [Mario] On paper, the city of Wilmar may seem just like a spot on the map.

It may be small, but this town is strong and rich in tradition.

- When I became mayor, I had already invested so much of my life just in the community.

Even if I wasn't the mayor, I'd still be invested myself into the community.

As far as like, what does it mean to this community?

It's mostly just the people that come together and to show love.

When people can't make it home for June dinner, they ain't sitting up there riddled with guilt and heartache because they can't make it because they know everybody else is here and everybody else is hugging and laughing and having a good time.

- June dinner, Juneteenth.

That's our time of the year to come home.

When we leave on our way home, we make reservations at the hotel for the following year.

- This is my home.

People travel, they go to the beach and they do this.

But come June, they're right back here, and we have been waiting for June dinner.

- Celebrations like June dinner in Wilmar are almost inseparable from the communities who started them.

Traditions like Hot Springs' Blarney Stone, the Watermelon Olympics in Cave City, or the Cornbread Festival in Little Rock, are practically rites of passage for locals.

You're really not from there until you take part in the party.

And just like celebrating Freedom Fest in Heber Springs, it's best to wait a half hour after eating before you want to get back into the water.

- You can't have a 4th of July without a corn dog and a lemonade.

I'm Kasey Griffin.

I'm the mayor of Heber Springs.

This weekend is Freedom Fest.

It's a two day event.

This will be our 37th year to do the cardboard boat races.

That's usually a pretty big deal for this area.

- [Mario] Since 1986, both locals and visitors have flocked to Greers Ferry Lake for the world championship cardboard boat races.

If you are thinking, wouldn't a boat made of cardboard sink?

Well, you would be correct.

And that's exactly what makes it such a fun tradition.

- I think a big draw is the lake.

So with the cardboard boat races being on the lake, that's a big tie into people that wanna come in for 4th of July.

The fireworks will be shot over Sandy Beach so people can watch from the beach or from their boats, and that is a huge deal, and it's something special that Heber Springs has to offer.

I like to think that most places have something that's unique to their area that's a draw, and I feel like the cardboard boat races is one of those things.

It will be big.

I'm a little tired, but I think that the adrenaline will kick in anytime.

So this is my little cardboard boat called KaceX.

Kind of a cheat off of SpaceX.

The boat took almost two weeks to finish.

It was a lot of layering cardboard and a lot of liquid nails.

Hopefully it won't sink, but there is a Titanic award, so if it does start to sink, I'll just have to be really dramatic about it.

These people right here.

Am I racing you?

- Yeah.

- Let's have some fun.

- Let's do it.

We went off of Buck Rogers this year.

(gentle music) - Set, on your marks (gun fires).

(dramatic music) (crowd cheers) (dramatic music) - We raced here in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

We've never sunk a boat.

The only time we've ever taken on any water is water that we put in it, getting in and out of it.

- Rudy's done all the major, you know, artwork and everything like that.

He's fantastic at doing that kind of stuff.

We try to dress up and make it fun, you know, for the whole team.

- [Rower] I have two oarsmen, two oarsmen, and then we have a gunner in the front.

Win, lose, or draw.

It'll be a lot of fun.

- It's a sturdy little champ, man.

We're gonna, we're gonna give it a race.

We're ready.

(crowd cheers) (crowd cheers, dramatic music) We got the most entertaining, the most entertaining boat of all times.

- It was good until, well, until the boat starts sinking.

- We've been doing this for about seven years, started with little boats and then just kind of graduated to bigger boats, and then they have a blast rowing it and it kind of became a family tradition.

We do it every year, get us a cabin and make a vacation out of it.

(crowd cheers) - [Mario] The cardboard boat races aren't the only thing that bring in visitors for this Independence Day tradition.

Families also come to enjoy live music, cold drinks, a treasure hunt, and most importantly, a watermelon eating contest.

- There is one thing you should know about the watermelon eating contest.

You have to put your hands behind your back.

- [Mario] Even our show's producer got in on the action.

- On your mark, get set, go!

(crowd cheers) - I'm the winner, chicken dinner, baby!

Woo!

- [Mario] Don't quit your day job.

- I won the first heat.

The second one is usually pretty exhausting.

I just hope I don't sink.

Outside lane.

- Oh, so it's the same again.

Okay.

- Yeah.

- [Rower 2] All right, good luck.

- Good luck.

I don't think that I'll sink today.

I think I'll make it to the finish line.

- [Announcer 2] 3, 2, 1.

(gentle music) (rower screams) (crowd screams) (gentle music) - I got real tipsy and then I ran into the other boat and I just went down.

Maybe the wind did it.

My favorite thing about Independence Day is community.

People coming together to celebrate their independence and just knowing that we can still come together to celebrate that.

Our community is great.

I think that Heber Springs is very friendly.

It's a place you can kind of just sit back and relax because you have that small town charm.

You know, just having all those different groups brings everybody together in that patriotic, we love America, we love where we live.

- Our individual winner goes to Mayor Kasey Griffin.

(crowd cheers) - Man, it feels really good.

I totally didn't expect it.

I'm super stoked.

This is gonna look really good in my office.

For Freedom Fest in the 4th of July and the cardboard boat races, the thing that I look forward to the most is just everybody coming together.

There's something to do.

We can all hang out.

We can all listen to a band.

We can just come together as a community and be a whole.

(gentle music) - When it comes to relaxing and enjoying the summer, few places do it better than Heber Springs.

Great food, beach views, and cardboard boat races.

What is more American than that?

I'll tell you what's more American, classical music with a bang.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer 3] One more round of applause for your Arkansas Symphony.

(crowd cheers) - [Mario] Pops on the river is an Independence Day celebration that goes out with a bang.

(classical music) Every year, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra performs a patriotic concert with a fireworks show over the Arkansas River.

- For me, this is actually a really exciting night.

This is my first time getting to conduct the Arkansas Symphony.

So I've been a cello player in the section since 2006, and it's been so much fun to play with these wonderful musicians.

But this is my first time getting to be in front of them.

(classical music) Remembering all the little cues and all the details, making sure that I don't miss one of those 'cause if I do, that's unclear, then that leads to disaster for everybody else.

But the musicians are pros.

They're great.

They've done this many times before, so they're, they've got my back.

I think that makes it feel a lot easier for me.

(classical music) This is such a special event for us every year just because we get to be really part of the community.

That's such a big part of our mission as an ensemble is to really inspire and connect and outreach, not just to Little Rock, but really to the whole state.

Such a wide ranging event like this that brings in people from all over, not just Little Rock, but to kind of the whole surrounding central Arkansas area is really fun to get to play for them and be a part of that day for them, part of their celebration.

For me, it's really a matter of getting to kind of be in front of all those folks and get to talk to them, get to, you know, share this music and bring this music to them.

Some fun music and really, really great things.

And to share the talent that we have right here in the community.

(classical music) You'll see a fist.

This is the cue for the lady who's on the phone in the back, who's getting ready to call my work people.

So this is the like, get ready and then about four bars later, this is go, so that that's not for you, but just heads up.

Like that and that.

This is so much fun.

I've gotten to do this almost every year that I've been a member of the ensemble.

I can't think of a better way to spend Independence Day, conducting new orchestra, bringing this music to the community and being a part of everyone's celebration.

I couldn't imagine July 4th without all the great patriotic music and American music that we celebrate anyway.

The only thing I could suggest would be air conditioning.

(dramatic classical music) (fireworks explode) (dramatic classical music continues) (crowd cheers) - [Announcer 3] Have a wonderful night, happy 4th of July.

(crowd claps) (gentle music) - Spring and summer seem to be the ultimate seasons for celebrating.

Each year Arkansans face the heat to eat, drink, party, and sink.

But most importantly, we do everything together as families, communities, and as a state.

So regardless if you're celebrating a fifth century Irish priest, a time tested cultural tradition, or simply the heart of a small community that finds joy in being together and keep the party going all year round.

Because anytime you're in a company of friends and family sharing in something you love.

- Mario!

Have the burgers been ready this whole time?

- Those are the moments worth celebrating.

♪ Celebrate, it's time come on ♪ Let's hit the lights ♪ Celebrate, celebrate ♪ Come on raise your gas ♪ It's just begun ♪ Celebrate ♪ Celebrate it's time, come on ♪ Let's hit the lights ♪ Celebrate ♪ Come on raise your gas, it's just begun, celebration ♪ (rock music)