Strawberry Festival’s Junior Floats Parade draws spectators, continues tradition

HUMBOLDT, Tenn. — After the rain cleared away, the 82nd Annual West Tennessee Strawberry Festival’s Junior Floats Parade rolled down Main Street.

Despite the rain, spectators at the Strawberry Festival still got the chance to enjoy the first of the week’s parades.

“Just coming to watch all the little floats come, even through the rain, and we do it every year, and it’s fun,” parade spectator Hannah Milam said.

Organizers say the strawberry festival is the longest running festival in Tennessee, starting in 1934.

“Eight gentlemen got together and decided to put on a festival and have a festival. The first year, it was just a couple of days,” Strawberry Festival General Chairman Betty Langley said. “Back in that time frame, there were a lot of strawberries grown in this area.”

And the idea for this unique parade came with it.

“Our junior floats parade is really special, because it is the largest non-motorized parade anywhere around. Everything is hand pulled, all the floats are. You’ll see bicycles and wagons,” festival president Chelsea Caraway said.

Marching bands, festival royalty and many others paraded down Main Street in their best strawberry attire.

Many attend the festival every year.

“Because it’s a Tennessee tradition,” spectator Will Baggett said.

For a schedule of events for the strawberry festival, go to our website and click Seen On 7.