For Three Decades, Steve Arrison Has Brought the Entertainment

Photo by Jane Colclasure

In the history of underdog stories, it is hard to beat Bridge Street in Hot Springs. At just 98 feet long, the swath is only about twice as long as it is wide and, according to one source, did not even start out as an actual city street. According to the Arkansas Roadside Travelogue, the Hot Springs River used to run along Central Avenue, and Bridge Street was a bridge, period. The city paved over it in 1870, and the nub became a tiny artery in the heart of downtown.

At one time tagged “world’s shortest city street” by Guinness World Records and “busiest street in the world for its size” by Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, the tiny thoroughfare earned its spurs as a local oddity — which, truth be told, it may well have remained had it not been for the vision of Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs.

As the story goes, Arrison and his team were out for an after-work beer and brainstorming session at a Bridge Street pub about how to leverage the tiny street to attract visitors. The suggestion was made to use it as the route for a St. Patrick’s Day parade, counterintuitively the shortest in the world. It was an idea too insane to work yet too tantalizingly wacko not to try. The First Ever First Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade occurred in 2004, and today, tens of thousands of people descend on Spa City for the annual event, headlined by celebrity grand marshals and bookended by other organized mischief.

It is without a doubt the crowning achievement of Arrison’s career at Visit Hot Springs, a history-making accomplishment that, like all of the organization’s community events and festivals, will have to learn to survive without him as he steps from the helm to the sidelines in retirement.

“St. Patrick’s Day was just a fluke,” Arrison said. “Somebody had sent me a copy of an article calling Bridge Street the shortest street in the world, and then later that day, we’re sitting there, having a drink, and going, ‘Let’s do St. Patrick’s Day.’ It just sort of happened.

“I never thought St. Patrick’s Day would get to be one of the top 10 parades in the United States. I never saw that. I thought it would be a good local event, but I didn’t think it would be what it is today.”

Parade photos: The annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade has welcomed a litany of celebrity grand marshals. (Photos provided by Visit Hot Springs)

Taking something as benign as a 98-foot stretch of asphalt and turning it into a mainstage in a town full of distractions perfectly encapsulates Arrison’s career and the marketing ethos he has instilled at Visit Hot Springs since landing there in 1998 — events are fun, but it is the place that matters, so find what is yours and share it with the world.

“You can’t play it safe your whole life,” Arrison told Arkansas Money & Politics in November. “As you look at it now, it’s like, gosh, we used to have all these open weekends. We don’t have open weekends anymore. That’s the unique thing about Hot Springs — about every weekend, there’s something special going on, and a lot of them are at no cost to the consumer. People support that, you know? That’s the reason people live in Hot Springs. That’s part of the reason why they came here, because we’ve got so much stuff going on all the time. It’s fun.”

Parade photos: The annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade has welcomed a litany of celebrity grand marshals. (Photos provided by Visit Hot Springs)

The range of amenities and events that have come to be standard fare in Hot Springs under Arrison’s watch, both directly and indirectly, would fill volumes. Big-league fishing tournaments, the Majestic Park baseball complex, Spa-Con pop media festival, Stueart Pennington’s World Championship Running of the Tubs and the new Birding Festival of the South merely scratch the surface of what there is for people to see and experience.

He has also led Visit Hot Springs to become a valued collaborator in promoting local events sponsored by other entities, such as the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival; helping to repackage the city’s blues festival as Big Steam Blues & Roots Music Festival; promoting the city’s Northwoods trail park via the Güdrun — Northwoods Mountain Bike Festival; and cross-marketing special events at Garvan Woodland Gardens and Oaklawn Hot Springs, among others.

Parade photos: The annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade has welcomed a litany of celebrity grand marshals. (Photos provided by Visit Hot Springs)

Arrison winces under what he considers an undue amount of credit for the work that has been done — culminating with his 2026 induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame last year — being quick and generous in his praise of others.

“The key to Visit Hot Springs and the key to my success here have been the people that I work with and work for,” he said. “We’ve got such a good group and always have had that. I’ve been very fortunate since I’ve been here.

“You know, not everything I wanted to do has been a success. We had Buffalo Days, which I thought was a wonderful event, but nobody came. We had Hats and Hot Springs downtown; we tried to gather the most people in one spot wearing a hat. It was a dismal failure. Everybody forgets those one-and-dones.”

Arrison is so effusive in his praise for others, he even finds ways to credit other communities for helping to grow Hot Springs’ offerings. In other words, he cops to stealing good ideas from elsewhere with abandon.

“We were looking for an idea of something to do during COVID-19,” he said. “My wife and I went down to Savannah, Georgia, and saw them doing a street deal with a nice band and locals and tourists standing around, enjoying it. We brought the idea back here and started it up.

“Another time, I’m on vacation in Key West, having a drink in the swimming pool, and the lady next to me was talking about the zero-K run they were in, and we started asking about it. I came back here and said, ‘We’ve got to do that.’ I mean, that’s a no-brainer.”

Wherever such ideas originated, there was some kind of magic that occurred once they got to Hot Springs as Arrison and his team applied their own special Spa City spin. The two ideas mentioned above, for example, were packaged to get headliner treatment downtown as Bridge Street Live and the World’s Shortest St Patrick’s Day ZERO-K run, respectively.

Arrison also pioneered the art of building an event and then giving it away in order to support local charities, which he said lends a deeper meaning to people having a good time.

“[Visit Hot Springs] doesn’t necessarily want to stay in the event business, and it’s great when charities can take something over,” Arrison said. “The zero-K run, we started that, and then we gave it to Tri-Lakes [Court Appointed Special Advocates] which raised, I believe, more than $20,000 on it this year.

“Everybody has always been on us, saying, ‘Why don’t you do a Mardi Gras event?’ Well, because that’s so close to St. Patrick’s Day, and there’s just so many things going on, and we can only do so many events — but now a local charity has started a Mardi Gras event that’s in its first or second year that we helped promote, and it was very successful, so we think that’s great.”

This month, Arrison took on a new task, that of orienting his replacement, veteran tourism executive Devin Heath, who officially began in the role of president and CEO June 15.

“I visited with Devin for several hours when he was in town to interview with the A&P commission,” Arrison said. “I think he’s going to be great — great for our community and great for Arkansas. I look forward to welcoming him and his wife to Hot Springs.”

Arrison mingles with Wayne Smith, general manager at Oaklawn Hot Springs, and Heather Baker, president and publisher at AY Media Group, at the Arkansas Derby. (Photo by Ryan Parker)

As the calendar melts down the remaining chapter of his professional life to mere months, Arrison said there are several challenges facing Visit Hot Springs going forward, challenges he will not miss losing sleep over.

“Every day is a new day with the world we’re living in right now,” he said. “I think security will become a really big issue for special events. You look at all these bad people taking advantage of large gatherings, and I think that’s something anybody who does events is very concerned with for the future. It’s certainly something we spend a lot of attention on, and thank goodness we have a great, progressive police department here that works with us to ensure our events are safe, but I do think that’s something that everybody has to worry about, the bad actors out there that want to ruin it for everybody.”

As for himself, Arrison said he looks forward to a slower pace and more family time in retirement, but he does already have one obligation after he clocks out for the last time at year’s end. The architect of Hot Springs’ world-class fishing tournaments has, incredibly, never in his life dropped a hook himself, and some acquaintances have mobilized an excursion to change that. 

Beyond that, he is eager to see what the future brings, a future he laid the groundwork for and that he now will watch unfold as just another citizen and spectator. The road of his career has been long, but like plucky little Bridge Street, the years have been short and packed full of memories.

“You know, Hot Springs has got a little bit of everything,” he said. “I mean, everybody needs new hotels and new attractions, where we just need to stay current. I think Hot Springs is finally doing that. Things are coming together for Hot Springs, and I think the future’s very bright. When you have all the assets that we have, it’s just, gosh, what do you need next? I’d like to see something on the Majestic [Hotel] site; I think that’s a key to the future for that end of downtown, and I think that will happen.

“The city’s done a great job. We’ve got water for ages now, which not too many communities can say, which is going to be key to future economic development. I think our tourism industry will continue to grow while still maintaining a great quality of life, quality of place. As a community, I just think we’re heading in the right direction. Everything’s rolling along here.” 

Shea Lewis

Steve’s leadership has transformed Hot Springs into one of Arkansas’ premier tourism destinations, driving growth with innovative approaches that blend the city’s historic character with its extraordinary natural resources. By elevating trails, outdoor recreation and the unique assets that define Hot Springs, he has strengthened the identity of Arkansas as the Natural State. His efforts have not only boosted tourism but have also enhanced the quality of life for residents, helping make Hot Springs — and Arkansas — a great place to visit, live, work and play. Steve’s dedicated service on the State Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission has further amplified his statewide impact, leaving a lasting legacy on Arkansas’ tourism industry and the communities it supports. — Shea Lewis, Secretary, Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism

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Bill Solleder

I consider myself one of the luckiest Arkansans to have served under Steve Arrison for the past decade. His mentorship has been priceless, his leadership unmatched and his friendship treasured. Bill Solleder, Director of Marketing, Visit Hot Springs

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Karen Trevino

Steve Arrison’s leadership, vision and dedication have helped shape Hot Springs into one of Arkansas’ premier destinations. His impact on tourism can be seen not only in the growth of that community but in the lasting legacy he’s built for generations to come. Karen Trevino, President and CEO, North Little Rock Tourism

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Jay Chesshir

I vividly remember having lunch with Steve and watching his amazing creativity at work. He was brainstorming new opportunities to attract more tourism to Hot Springs. We were at Spencer’s Corner, and he looked out the window toward Bridge Street and remarked, ‘According to the Guiness Book of World Records, that was the shortest fully operating street in America. We should create a tourism event for St. Patrick’s Day and have the world’s shortest parade.’

This is just one great example of his creativity and leadership for Hot Springs and our entire state. His personal and professional impact has been nothing short of amazing. Simply put, Steve Arrison is the best in the business.” Jay Chesshir, President and CEO, Little Rock Regional Chamber

SEE THE STORY IN OUR JUNE 2026 ISSUE OF AMP BELOW.

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