The Daffodil Festival
| The Daffodil Festival | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Community Festival, Royalty Program |
| Dates | 1926-present |
| Location(s) | Pierce County, Washington |
| Years active | 82 |
| Website | Daffodil Festival |
The Daffodil Festival is a regional festival and royalty leadership program. The Grand Floral Parade is held in Pierce County, Washington every April. It consists of a flower parade and a year-long royalty program to select a festival queen from one of the 24 area high schools. Each year, the Royal Court spend thousands of hours promoting education, community pride and volunteerism in the county. In 2012, the Royal Court was named the "Official Ambassadors of Pierce County" by the County Executive and the Pierce County Council.[1]
History
The Puyallup River valley, in which part of Tacoma, and all Puyallup, Sumner and Orting lie, has rich glacial soil. In 1925 the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended bulb growing to replace the decaying hops industry.
Soon, the trademark bulb fields sprung up, most notably Van Lierop's bulb farm in Puyallup, along Shaw Road. Daffodils and tulips became the best crops.
The Daffodil Festival was established in 1926 as an annual, formal garden party of Mr. And Mrs. Charles W. Orton in Orting. In 1934 the parade section of the festival was established, as a procession of automobiles decorated with daffodils.
Parade
The Grand Floral Parade travels through Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner and Orting in one day. The concept of "four parades in four cities in one day" is unique to the Daffodil Festival. The parade is held every year on a Saturday in April.
Participating high schools
As of 2012, the participating high schools are:
- Bethel High School (Spanaway)
- Bonney Lake High School (Bonney Lake)
- Cascade Christian Schools (Puyallup)
- Chief Leschi High School (Puyallup)
- Clover Park High School (Lakewood)
- Curtis Senior High School (University Place)
- Eatonville High School (Eatonville)
- Emerald Ridge High School (Puyallup)
- Fife High School (Fife)
- Franklin Pierce High School (Parkland)
- Graham-Kapowsin High School (Graham)
- Henry Foss High School (Tacoma)
- Lakes High School (Lakewood)
- Lincoln High School (Tacoma)
- Mt. Tahoma High School (Tacoma)
- Orting High School (Orting)
- Puyallup High School (Puyallup)
- Rogers High School (Puyallup)
- Spanaway Lake High School (Spanaway)
- Stadium High School (Tacoma)
- Sumner High School (Sumner)
- Washington High School (Parkland)
- White River High School (Buckley)
- Woodrow Wilson High School (Tacoma)
References
- ^ Pierce County Council Resolution - Proclamation No. R2012-3<http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/cfapps/council/iview/ViewDocument.cfm?id=5995&name=>
External links
- Daffodil Festival Website
- Collection of photos from the (Tacoma) News Tribune
- Pierce County resolution R2006-37 recognizing and honoring the festival and its royal court