Elkhart County 4-H Fair brings new features to annual parade

 

GOSHEN, Ind. – The Elkhart County 4-H Fair may have gotten its start on Friday, but the event gets a big boost annually from the 4-H parade, which steps off on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The parade begins at Linway Plaza and heads down Lincoln Avenue, before taking a quick jaunt through Main Street.

This offers plenty of stopping points for onlookers to get the best views.

Once the parade leaves downtown, it passes Goshen High School and makes a turn onto Monroe Street toward the fairgrounds.

Beyond the standard array of marching bands, this year’s parade will feature live music from the Broken Lifters, a local rock group that will be playing near Goshen High School.

Parade Director Boyd Smith, says that anywhere between twenty-five thousand to three hundred thousand people attend the parade annually, and it has something for everyone to see.

“The parade is an integral part of the event," said Boyd. "We’ve got marching bands; we’ve got music along the parade route. It’s the best that our community has to offer.” 

In total, twenty-five parade staff members will be in charge of keeping the nearly two-and-a-half-mile parade running right on Sunday.

Officials also remind folks to bring bags for their kids to catch candy, as many of the one hundred and twenty floats involved will be tossing candy to the crowd. 

While the parade has a history that goes back more than one hundred years, it’s been the Goshen Noon Kiwanis Club that’s been keeping things running smoothly for the past fifty years.

“It’s the volunteerism throughout our community that comes out and really puts together the spirit of this event," said Boyd. "It’s the kind of thing you can never pay for, but the heart of the volunteer gives you.”

Learn more about the history of the parade.