Hundreds gather for 2022 Boulder County Fair Parade in Longmont
Aug. 6—People of all ages gathered along the edges of Main Street in Longmont to celebrate the 2022 Boulder County Fair season Saturday morning.
Starting at 10 a.m., over 50 entries including, floats, marching bands, dance groups, car clubs and more lined up at Roosevelt Park for the Boulder County Fair Parade, where they marched down Main Street before circling around to Coffman Street to wrap up the Saturday morning fun.
"We had a lot of new entries that we've never had before," Boulder County Fair Parade Coordinator Ken White said. "We are slowly building back up to prepandemic numbers."
The parade is hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Longmont, but White said some local Boy Scout troops stepped up to help organize this year's parade.
"Kiwanis isn't as big as it used to be, and the Boy Scouts were really a lot of help this year," White said.
Along with the usual local marching bands and floats, unique entries filled up this year's parade roster, like the Boulder County Beekeepers Association, multiple Latin American dance groups, an Israeli celebration dance group, and Casa Agave, a new restaurant coming soon to Longmont.
Of course, all the fan favorites made it back this year, like the Top of the Rockies Corvette Association and the old Longmont Fire Engine.
Onlookers enjoyed the line of entries so much, many were seen making their way to Coffman Street to catch the lineup going by again before heading home.
The parade works as a reminder that the Boulder County Fair is right around the corner.
This year's fair will run from Aug. 11 through 14, and will be fully open to the public for the first time since the start of the pandemic. This year's theme, "Meet Me Back at the Fair," was inspired by the community's desire to get back together at the beloved fair.
"Everyone was so ready for it to come back," Boulder County Fair Board President Melanie Bohren said. "That's how we came up with the name; we want everyone to come back and show their support for this great community event."
Bohren emphasized one of the most important parts of the fair is that it is free to the community.
"Having a free fair and free parking where people can come see livestock and animal shows, have fun on carnival rides, get some good fair food, and some live music is really important," Bohren said. "It's kind of like we are bringing back that traditional fair experience."
Prefair exhibition events are going on through Wednesday. During the fair there will be plenty of entertainment for the whole family. Each day the fair is open there will be a specific theme like Kid's Day, Multicultural Day, Entertainment Day and Livestock Sale Day.
For more information and a full schedule of events, visit bouldercountyfair.org.
