Kim S. Lambert waves from the VOC float which took first place in the Tribal/Business Division at the 2015 Cherokee Indian Fair Parade on Tuesday, Oct. 6. (SC0TT MCKIE B.P./One Feather)
The Cherokee Indian Fair is just around the corner. Preparations are already in full swing, and the theme selected for this year’s fair is “Living Cherokee Strong”. The Cherokee Indian Fair parade will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 4 beginning at 4pm. Floats will begin to assemble at the Casino Parking Lot at 9am.
The route for the parade will start at the casino parking lot, taking a right onto Hwy 19 South through downtown Cherokee, crossing the bridge and turning right onto Hwy 441 North, crossing the bridge at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and disbanding across from the Ginger Lynn Welch Building (for vehicles only), all floats will disband taking the route behind the Ginger Lynn Welch Complex. A few rules include that all goodies must be handed out, not thrown from floats. Once the parade is in motion, no one is to be jumping on or off floats or vehicles. Participants must wait until they reach the ending point of the parade. If you plan on riding a horse in the parade, the horse must be diapered or you will have to have a mucker to follow the horse and immediately clean up and droppings.
To enter in the Fair parade, you or a representative from your organization must complete an application form and a photo liability release and deliver it to the Cherokee Welcome Center at 498 Tsali Blvd. You may choose whether or not your float will be judged for competition on the form. For those floats being judged, two representatives must remain with the float when you arrive at the staging area until the judging process is over. Judging will begin promptly at 2:30 pm and all participants must be on the float at that time. A completed W-9 must also be completed by Wednesday, Sept. 28 for any float being judged. Prizes for the float contest are $200 (3rd place), $400 (2nd place), $600 (1st place) and $1500 (grand prize).
To be a part of the 2016 Cherokee Indian Fair Parade or to make inquiries, contact the Cherokee Welcome Center 359-6490/6491 or travel@nc-cherokee.com.
– Cherokee Welcome Center
