Thousands line streets for Strawberry Festival Grand Floats Parade

HUMBOLDT, Tenn. — There wasn’t an empty space for a spectator at one of the longest-running traditions rolling through Humboldt, the 79th annual West Tennessee Strawberry Festival Grand Floats Parade.

The famous Clydesdale horses pranced through in their third appearance since the parade began.

“I’ve been coming for 40-something years, and that one little spot, I’ve been there for 40-something years, and we enjoy it,” spectator Lula Wardlow said. “We have grandkids and great-grandkids in the parade.”

The Wardlow family was one of many families who have made this an annual event. People at the parade say there’s something everyone can look forward to each year — “just to see all the people go by and what they did to their floats and everything,” Rita Jones said.

“All the bands get together and play. That’s what we’re excited about,” Gibson County resident Jennifer Roberts said.

Five high school bands from across Gibson County not only made one march through the route, but they turned around and marched through again — and this time they were united.

“They may be rivals on the basketball court, the football field or the baseball field, but not today,” said Jenny Deloach, who helps organize the parade and other events for the festival.

Finishing off the day’s festivities, it all came down to a mass performance by all these groups. It’s something that hasn’t been done in nearly two decades. This special tradition is something spectators hope stays just as strong as the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival itself.

The activities continue downtown through Saturday.