Who would have guessed, when we watched the Red Poppy Festival parade in 2019, that we would not see another until nearly three years later? Happily, with most social restrictions relaxed or eliminated, Georgetown will host a traditional Poppy weekend April 22-24, including the Saturday morning parade and car show. Current weather predictions promise a lovely spring day, but the parade will go on, rain or shine. Parade coordinator Karen Frost says the parade is shaping up very nicely and she is excited about returning to the traditional schedule. She is also eager to implement some changes to make the parade even better this year; “The procession will have 40 entries, about half as many participants as our previous parade. This way there will be no stopping on the route and the spectators will enjoy the flow.”
The Poppy parade flips some of the features of the Christmas Stroll. Both parades begin with flags and standards but where the Stroll begins with the mayor and chiefs on a fire engine to start the show, the ladder truck is the big finale in the Poppy parade.
Karen also says the Georgetown and East View bands take turns marching in the lead and there are several performance groups returning from previous parades. She adds, “We are just encouraging everyone to put on your red and come celebrate being back.”
BACK IN STYLE
Mayor Josh Schroeder is pleased about the prospect of his first Poppy parade since taking office, “I’m glad the festival is back to its original schedule. What better way to celebrate having all that lockdown business in our rear view mirror. The Poppy Festival has long been the keystone of all the events we have to celebrate Georgetown and bring people to the Square.”
THE BUSINESS SIDE
Mayor Schroeder said the perennial success of the Poppy Festival has laid the foundation for a Square that is now bustling with events. “In the early days, one of the aims of the festival was to draw people to the Square to support businesses that were struggling. Now that our Square has evolved as a regular destination for festivals, live music nights, or just a Tuesday out with the family, we are looking at why and how we do events with a greater ‘worldview’.”
Festival fans can look forward to similar events popping up across town and all year, even a recurrence of Popptoberfest. The mayor’s plan is to add new events during months when there are none currently, rather than a handful in April and none in September. He adds, “We also plan to spread them across different locations. This is an important economic development so our neighbors and visitors will be encouraged to see and spend money in all of our businesses, or move their companies here because there are vital lifestyle and shopping sites everywhere in our city limits.”
Mayor Schroeder suggests we may soon see music festivals in Garey and San Gabriel parks, or arts festivals at Wolf Lakes and other retail recreation sites. He says, “We are excited about having Jack Ingram as our headliner at Poppyfest. It tells people who we are and how we think as a city. We believe his audience is our community so his performance will incentivize major event organizers and artists who will appeal to all of our Georgetown demographics. We just want people to see us, get excited that there is so much cool stuff going on in our little town, and decide to come here to be a part of it.”