Spokane Lilac Festival Association takes over reins of annual Junior Lilac Parade

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22.01.24

Media Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2023
Contact: VPs of Parade, juniorlilac@spokanelilacfestival.org

Weeeeeee love a Parade!!

[Spokane, WA] The Spokane Lilac Festival Association (SLFA) will be taking over the annual Jr. Lilac Parade, previously put on by the Spokane Rotaract Club.

Each spring, to kick off the SLFA’s Festival Week, the community comes together to celebrate our youngest Spokanites in the annual Jr. Lilac Parade. You’ll see elementary and middle school bands and drill teams, youth organizations and other clubs, as well as the Lilac Festival’s Royal Court.

“For the last few decades the Spokane Rotaract has presented the Spokane community with the treasured Junior Lilac Parade. Doing a wonderful job, but ready to pass the torch, they have asked the SLFA to take on the ownership of this event,” says SLFA co-VP of Parade, Jamie Dedmon. “It is with much excitement that we announce this transition. This is a great fit for the SLFA and will kick off Festival Week by striking up the band.” Community volunteers – dubbed the “Parade Krewe” – work tirelessly throughout the year to bring the annual Armed Forces Torchlight Parade to our community, and now they will add the Junior Lilac Parade to their plate.

“We cannot thank the community enough for the continued support,” the Spokane Rotaract Club said in a statement. “We are grateful for the young talented musicians, band directors, parents, and community partners that have supported the Junior Lilac Parade and Spokane Rotaract Club. We are excited for what the future holds and know that Spokane Lilac Festival Association will continue to steer this community event further into the future. It has been an honor to serve our community these past several decades, and we know this annual event is in good hands.”

The SLFA invites you to join them for two parades in 2024. The Jr. Lilac Parade on Saturday, May 11th, sponsored by GESA Credit Union and Idaho Central Credit Union, and the Armed Forces Torchlight Parade on Saturday, May 18th. Applications for participation in both parades are NOW OPEN and can be found at spokanelilacfestival.org/parade.

The Spokane Lilac Festival Association (SLFA) is a 501c3 nonprofit community organization established in 1938 by the Associated Garden Club of Spokane. Following the end of World War Two, what had been a loosely organized group of enthusiasts gathered to officially form the Spokane Lilac Festival Association, launching in 1946 and continuing to this day. Each May the SLFA hosts communities from across the Pacific Northwest for the annual Lilac Festival culminating in the nation’s largest Armed Forces Torchlight Parade on Armed Forces Day. SLFA Directors and the Royal Court of seven high school seniors selected from among Spokane County’s 31 area high schools travel across the northwest each summer with the festival float, serving as ambassadors of Spokane to the region and beyond. To learn more about the SLFA visit www.spokanelilacfestival.org.