EDMONTON – On Friday, the K-Days parade will kick off one of Edmonton’s biggest summer festivals.
“We’re encouraging Edmontonians to come early this year,” says Lauren Andrews, Public Relations Specialist with Northlands. “Come at 9 a.m. for the Shriners pre-parade spectacular, then at 10 a.m. the formal parade kicks off with a bunch of great floats, great marching bands and a lot of great acts that are strolling through downtown.”
Mayor Stephen Mandel will make a special appearance at this year’s parade.
“We’re excited to have Mayor Mandel as our parade marshal. It’s a great way to kick off and to end off his great reign as mayor for Edmonton.”
The parade will wind its way through downtown from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Friday.
“Of course if you can’t make it downtown to watch the parade, tune into Global and you can also watch it online on Global as well.”
It will air commercial-free for its duration on Global Edmonton, hosted by Nancy Carlson, Shane Jones and Mike Sobel.
This year, the event is more interactive than ever before.
The K-Days parade will be live-streamed on our website, GlobalNews.ca/edmonton. In addition, Edmontonians are encouraged to tweet their comments about the parade using the hashtag #KDAYS and Shane and Nancy will share some of the tweets on air.
Northlands has also released a free Northlands Events App for smart phones. The App provides up to date information on the festival and provides a way for people to vote on their favourite parade entry.
Friday’s parade will feature more music than ever, thanks to a number of marching bands.
“We have over 120 floats,” says Andrews. “This year there’s a focus on marching bands. We have more marching bands than ever in our K-Days parade, and it just keeps getting bigger and better every year.”
“Spectators can expect to see a bunch of great floats, great balloons strolling through downtown… Think the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade, with a lot of great balloons floating above downtown.”
Northlands wants to hear public feedback on the event. Six parade awards will be presented, including the Mayor’s Trophy for Best Overall Entry and Most Creative Entry.
Five awards will be presented after the parade, including the People’s Choice (which will be determined by those voting on the Northlands Events App), and Best Pipe Band.
Global News is giving away four pairs of 10-day K-Days passes. To enter, watch the parade, then go to our website globalnews.ca/edmonton, click on Today’s Contest, and tell us which of our personalities are in the Global vehicle.
This year, the midway opens right after the parade, at noon on Friday. K-Days runs July 19-28 from noon to midnight.
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