Few things illustrate the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival’s growth more than La Conner’s ever-blooming annual tulip parade.
Retired engineer and Kiwanian Luke Long launched the first parade in 1987 as a spur-of-the-moment idea to give his Nile Temple bandmates a platform to promote their work providing free medical care for disabled and severely burned children.
Long, who died in 2011 at age 88, was known for his wit and whimsy. He pulled together the first tulip parade here with no advance publicity, calling it a “Not-So-Impromptu” event, one for which he expressed fear beforehand — at least with tongue in cheek — that it might result in the band and him being jailed for marching without a permit and violating the Town’s noise ordinance.
Much has changed since then.
This year’s parade, set for 2 p.m. April 5 on First Street, is presented by SaviBank and Harborstone Credit Union. It reflects extensive planning, promotion, and collaboration to support an expanded celebration.
Photo by Sarah Walls/Cedarbrook Studio
New this year
Festivities kick off two hours before the parade with an interactive “KidsZone” featuring games and face painting from noon to 1:30 p.m. near the Swinomish Yacht Club at La Conner Marina. Global Credit Union and Quantum Construction are sponsoring the event.
Also new this year: an opening ceremony presented by SaviBank and Harborstone to highlight the festival’s community impact, and an exhibit of original festival art. The exhibit runs April 5–11 at The Local Shop in Sedro-Woolley and April 18–25 at The Depot in Anacortes, in partnership with the city of Sedro-Woolley and the Anacortes Arts Festival.
A safer parade route
The La Conner Daffodil Festival Pet Parade presented by the La Conner Thrives Association, deemed a “one-of-a-kind event,” will take place for the first time on a street cleared of parked vehicles.
La Conner Mayor Marna Hanneman hopes merchants around town will put signs in their windows ahead of time to alert people there will be no parking on First Street for part of the day.
Gina Torpey of La Conner Thrives is seeking golf carts to shuttle spectators between parking lots on both ends of the parade route. Hanneman also is checking with the La Conner Retirement Inn about borrowing a van.
A model for future parades?
Hanneman said she is hopeful the new-look tulip parade will come off smoothly enough that it can serve as a model for La Conner’s Independence Day parade this summer.
In the meantime, she is regularly “praying to the Sun Gods” for good weather on April 5.
Parade entries, in keeping with the precedent set by Long, are accepted up until the last minute. But in a concession to modern times, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival encourages pre-registration online.
Bill Reynolds: bill@laconnercommunitynews.org. Bill is a general assignment reporter who covers Town government, schools, and spot news.
