CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Everybody loves a parade and a big one steps off Saturday morning in Charleston. FestivALL and WV 150, the state’s Sesquicentennial celebration, teamed up to coordinate a parade on Kanawha Boulevard from Court Street to the state Capitol .
This event is taking the place of the annual FestivALL Art Parade. Organizer Vas Scouras says their goal is to reach all kinds of West Virginians.
“There’s still going to be a little bit of the quirkiness, a little bit of the FestivALL end of it,” explained Scouras. “But this year it’s really about celebrating West Virginia on it’s 150th birthday.”
You can’t invite some parts of the West Virginia family and not the others, so the parade committee made sure to send out the call to all 55 counties to participate.
“There’s going to be a little bit of everything. There’s bands from all over the state. There will be floats. We’ve got school’s participating. We have the WVU Alumni Band,” says Scouras.
The parade line-up is very organized. Each county will be represented by a pennant and they will go in the order in which they joined the state.
Scouras says it’s going to make for one major parade.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it lasts close to two hours,” said Scouras. “It’s one of those things that’s going to happen if you invite everybody from the state to come and join a big party.”
The parade begins at 10 a.m. on the dot. Organizers urge people to arrive early.
“We’ve actually encouraged folks along the Blvd. who own houses or businesses to have a brunch, throw a porch party. Bring your coffee, mimosas, whatever works for you.”
After the parade, the WV150 events get underway on the Capitol grounds.