Youth Parade dazzles Wenatchee with Apple Blossom Royalty, marching bands, Bighorns, horses and more

WENATCHEE — The 57th annual Apple Blossom Youth Parade was held Saturday morning on the first weekend of the festival, and the crowds were out in full force. For the last 38 years, the Youth Parade has been sponsored by TekniPlex, the global materials science corporation.

The city has come to expect an extravaganza, and the Apple Blossom Festival did not disappoint this year. Floats and participants lined up this morning at Triangle Park near Pioneer Middle School, and after the parade began, made their way down Orondo Avenue, left on Mission, and continued to Fifth Street.

It all opened with a few police officers leading the way, and after the TekniPlex float itself passed, the Grand Marshal of this year’s parade, Karen Rutherford rode by in a classic car being chauffeured by her husband Peter. Rutherford is a 35-year resident of Wenatchee, who has been so active in the community that her name is inextricably linked to math, science, robotics, the local museum and to the co-founding of Pinnacles Prep, the tuition-free charter school in Wenatchee for grades 6–12.

But the parade went immediately into overdrive: Elementary, Middle School, and Junior High marching bands, cheer squads and flag color guards made their way from all over the state to participate, some from as far as Prosser, Mukilteo and even all the way in Granite Falls. Full instrument sections played familiar songs, and the crowd even got “Rick Rolled” by Columbia Junior High from Fife, who arranged “Never Gonna Give You Up” into a marching tune.

The Apple Blossom Royalty and Junior Royalty rode past, of course, with Queen Ella Johnson in a car by herself and Princesses Daeja Carlson and Yasmin Perez following closely behind in another car.

The cast of Aladdin, being performed by Stage Kids, paraded through, as well as the Lake Chelan PirateFest, while equestrians, cyclists and gymnasts did tricks all along the route. Even our local basketball team, the Wenatchee Bighorns, made an appearance with numerous players and their unmistakable travel van.

Throughout the program, vendors strolled up and down the streets with balloons, toys and cotton candy bags for sale to the kids they walked past, and soon it sounded like every blue-tongued (from the spun sugar) child in Wenatchee was the proud owner of a brand new single-note plastic trumpet, all of them in tune with one another, if not in time.

In all, it was a great way to cap off the big events of the first weekend of Apple Blossom as we steer toward the headlining acts of our two-weekend festival.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media