Vernon's sad little Winter Parade

[Solipsistic]

Is it just me or has every year the Winter Carnival parade only gotten worse?

I'm a middle aged guy with a young family and we all went to watch the parade with some friends and their kids.
Standing around wasn't so bad because of the beautiful day we had.

The parade itself however was so lame my kids lost interest and were having more fun playing on the fountain walls near the museum.

In my opinion it has just become a cheap advertising event for people with no creativity and a big waste of time for the ones watching it.

I mean really, who cares about your stupid shiny truck or car that advertises your business with a cheap plastic banner.
Seems as long as I pay the entry fee I can just drive my car around, blare some music, and wear a gorilla mask. Dumb.

I remember as a kid living in town it was almost all composed of actual motorized floats.
People were creative and had fun building them. The kids were more enthused when watching or even being on them.
Now it's just a sad waste of time.

Most of the kids riding on those floats were just as unimpressed as us watching. That should tell you something.
I think that a proper motorized float should be mandatory for entry.
Show some creativity, some community spirit, some enthusiasm.

That's my rant.

[jasond_71]

I totally agree. I stopped going a few years ago. It literally is a bunch of vehicles with advertising. I grew up in Vernon and participated in the parade. It should be classic floats( paper Mache) type floats. I thought I was the only one who thought it was lame watching one truck after another with realtor or construction advertising.

[southy]

I also remember the parades from the 70s and early 80s. They were a major family/community/valley wide event. What has happened? The same thing is happening in Penticton with their Peachfest parade .. Vehicles with advertising and perhaps a couple egotistical politicians.

[GordonH]

^^^ maybe its because community involvement is dropping off with each new/next generation comes along.

[coffeeFreak]

There weren't even any pictures of it in today's Morning Star which is very unusual.