For one thing, they didn't have one parade....they had 6 parades in 3 days. Wow! There were several bands, but the Pella High School band was truly outstanding! I think that I heard the announcer say that they have marched in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena.
I can understand why. They were that good. I loved the Dutch costumed girls carrying the school banner for the band.
The band costumes were really nice too, the color guard was flashy!
But the best part was the music...and the drums. How can they do that and march at the same time?
And then came the Tulip Queen. Riding in an antique carriage covered in flowers, pulled by a beautiful black horse. I'm guessing that the horse had at least some Friesian in him...because how could anything other than a Dutch horse pull the Dutch royalty!?
The Queen is very pretty....
....and her flower girls very cute. I think that it's one of the requirements.
This pair came next....
....pulling the rest of the Royal Court in another beautiful flower covered carriage.
And then came the little future royalty....with dreams as big as their waves. The Tulip Queen and her court were the only queens in the parade. It made it more special somehow. Instead of, oh, there's a queen, there's another queen, ho hum, yep, another queen.....it was "There is THE queen of the Tulip Festival." I liked it that way.
There were a few floats...most with charming kids in costumes. Love this little guy. Hello my people, I am your future mayor.
And the whole elementary school came in their costumes and marched...and sang a sweet little song about Pella.
There were a lot of them....and they were all in costume....have I mentioned the costumes? :-)
There is also a Christian School in Pella...they had a really good marching band too.
Another float with a cute little guy...."hey you in the band, you're out of step!"
And then came the antique Dutch vendor carts. I thought that they were pretty interesting. They weren't actually selling things, but it sure gave you a good idea of what it was like around 1850. This is a vegetable cart....
...and a milk wagon....
...and a flower wagon...
....and der Klompen wagen....wooden shoe wagon....
....and even a broom cart.
There were kids on unicycles, bikes, and scooters....
....lots of babies in antique carriages....
...isn't this one wonderful??
A tractor just like one of my dads....well, except for the fresh paint and shiney part.
Abe Lincoln was there....Hi Abe! He was actually acquainted with Dominie Scholte, the man who founded Pella.
This man had a live chicken in his basket, the kids were carrying chicks.
The parades, like the rest of the festival, were all very well planned and fun to watch. It was a lot for the town to undertake for three whole days. I imagine that this little guy wasn't the only one ready for a nice long nap when it was all done.
I know I was!Tomorrow's blog...Something about Water.
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