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PHOTOS: Grand Parade returns to celebrate Peach Fest’s 75th birthday in Penticton

Peach Fest wraps up on Sunday night with British piano man Ben Waters

The Grande Parade may have started at 10 a.m., but the celebration of Peach Fest’s 75th birthday kicked off way before then on Saturday.

Hundreds of people with lawn chairs in hand arrived in parts of Penticton’s downtown core bright and early on Aug. 6 in anticipation of the start of the festival’s beloved parade.

And as John Vassilaki, the city’s mayor, strolled through the route shortly after 10 a.m., the party was officially on.

Floats from across B.C. and Washington State were among those to participate in the festivities, with local organizations, politicians and decades of Miss Penticton royalty also in attendance.

North on Main Street and west on Wade Avenue, the parade took nearly two hours to complete.

Among the groups to make the occasion extra special was Penticton’s Salvation Army, who was accepting non-perishable food donations all morning long along the route.

READ ALSO: High demand, low supply: Penticton’s Salvation Army accepts donations at Peach Fest

Several road closures were implemented in Penticton as early as 5 a.m., as a result of the parade, with drivers on Main Street, Lakeshore Drive, Wade Avenue and Winnipeg Street among those affected.

After four days of special events around the city, headlined by Canadian rockers Glass Tiger on Saturday night, the Penticton Peach Festival wraps up on Sunday.

The full Peach Fest guide can be found here, or in last week’s print edition of the Penticton Western News.

READ MORE: Here’s what’s happening this weekend in Penticton: Peach Fest edition


@lgllockhart
logan.lockhart@pentictonwesternnews.com