In my post last weekend I mentioned the possibility of attending a parade Saturday evening.

Well, it happened! 😃

^{Start of the Seafair Torchlight Parade.}

SEAFAIR

The Seafair Festival is THE signature summer event in the greater Seattle metropolitan area. The festival began in 1950 and serves as a celebration of both the area’s maritime connection and our region’s cultural diversity. According to the Seafair website:

The annual non-profit festival spans ten weeks and touches more than two million people through 75 sanctioned events.

Seafair is committed to uniting and celebrating all of Seattle’s diverse communities by offering affordable fun and activities where differences are welcomed, and every individual feels a sense of belonging to make memories that last a lifetime.

Seafair is comprised of eight signature events. These include:

• Seafair Summer 4th
• Seafair Pirates Landing
• Milk Carton Derby
• Seafair Triathlon & Kids Triathlon
• Seafair Torchlight Parade and Fanfest
• Torchlight 5K & 8K Run
• Seafair Fleet Week
• Seafair Weekend Festival

I have attended at least one Seafair event every year of my life. (Except during those Australian years when I moved away for a time. 😄) In 2007, I was even offered a job at Seafair! This was a dream come true for a company I had ALWAYS wanted to work! But dumb me accepted a job at my current work for higher pay and more stability! 😭😭😭 #regrets. At the time we had just moved back to the States and the hours for the job would have been intense. I was focused on quality time with my family and friends... so let the opportunity pass. It still bums me out though.

ANYWAY... ☺️

My husband was gifted reserved seating tickets for the Torchlight Parade from his work. With tickets in hand, we headed into the city and claimed our spot on the parade route.

^Us

^{Pre parade views along Seattle’s 4th Avenue.}

Torchlight is an evening parade. It begins at dusk and continues well into the night. There was some kind of delay this year which set the parade back 30 minutes in schedule. So the first marchers didn’t pass our position until about 8pm. The darkness is fun, because as the parade progresses everything is lit up with twinkle lights.

The parade features a vast sampling of marchers. Different ethnic communities displayed their costumes, local community queens and princesses rode past on floats, there were pirates, clowns, marching bands, hydroplanes, balloon floats, local dignitaries, military personal, bagpipes and professional athletic teams.

Here is a sampling of the parade’s various participants.

^{The Seattle Police Department Precision Motorbike Team}

^{Representatives of the armed services.}

^{A zamboni representing the city’s new ice hockey franchise.}

^{Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest}

^{Boeing employees}

^{Seattle Public High School’s All City Marching Band}

^{Seattle, WA Korean Association}

^{Clockwise, left to right: Sikhs of Washington, Seattle Seahawks dance squad, a Thai dance company and Miss Seafair 2019}

^{NFL Seattle Seahawks Mascot}

^{Wearing Mexican dress and riding a horse.}

^{Chinese Dragon}

^Bagpipes

^Drums

^{African American Drill and Drum Corp}

We ended up only staying for HALF of the parade! Empty bellies and cool temperatures tempted us back to the car. However, you can see we saw a lot during out limited time downtown.

This year marked the 70th year of the Seafair Festival!!!

If you find yourself in Seattle one July or August, I would definitely recommend checking out one of Seafair’s signature events.

All photos and videos taken by me with an iPhone 7, July 29, 2019

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