F.A.Q.

This is the most commonly asked question from people who have known past parades to be in the evening.  There are several reasons:

          1. The new Candyland Battle of the Bands with cash prizes totalling $1000 is an important part of the parade and this needs to happen when the performances can be seen and appreciated.
          2. The event has been expanded to a full day with features before and after the parade. Placing the parade in the middle of the event encourages people to come earlier and stay later.
          3.  ALL participants are clearly seen during midday hours; commercial entries can actually be visible and their logos readable.  The "Welcome to Candyland!" theme lends itself to colorful, fun displays and costumes, best seen during daylight hours.
          4. Safety is an issue greatly enhanced with daylight.
          5. The parade is really so much about the kids—those that watch and those that participate— an earlier start time makes sense.

Moving the parade time was crucial, especially for a group whose entire reason for being is to educate the community on the importance of shopping for goods and services from locally owned, independent businesses.  It is vital that we generate traffic when businesses in the community are open and produce an event that supports that. Bringing thousands of people into town later in the evening when businessses are closed defeats the purpose of promoting the Shop Local message.