Rhododendron Festival Parade

Not so long ago, our festival parade used to be straight down the highway, the main artery to the west of NS, blocking traffic in both directions until we were done.

Now we are a little more considerate and allow the traffic to pass through, but, I have to say, it's just not quite the same.

Regardless, people line the streets to watch the floats of schools, community groups and organisations, local businesses and vintage cars parade past. The parade is led by a vintage car with the Rhododendron Princess in it. Until recently, ahead of the princess was a chappie on a beautiful dappled grey horse, all dressed up in satin. That is the man, not the horse. He had opened the parade for decades, but sadly died. For those in Scotland, you may be interested to know that there was a group of Scottish Country Dancers. Unfortunately there were only 5 of them, two of which were carrying the banner. Hopefully their marching will encourage others to swell their ranks:)

Our Rhododendron Festival is the oldest continuously running community festival in Australia. This year was it's 59th.