Get ready for this year’s Olympia Pet Parade June 22. Here are the details
The Pet Parade, a tradition for nearly a century in which pets and their owners dress up in themed costumes and walk through downtown Olympia, is happening Saturday, June 22.
Like last year, the parade will be part of the Olympia Downtown Alliance’s LoveOly SummerFest, which will run all next weekend.
This Pet Parade is the 92nd overall and the second the Hands On Children’s Museum has hosted since The Olympian passed primary sponsorship of the annual event to the museum.
The museum is co-hosting the parade with the Olympia Downtown Alliance in partnership with Olympia Veterinary Hospital.
“It’s a fun way to show off your little critter friends, but also to get out and join a community and feel that love from everybody around you,” Madison Peters, event coordinator and museum visitor engagement assistant manager, told The Olympian. “And just have that enjoyable kind of summer atmosphere.”
Though non-household pets are not allowed to walk in the parade, people of all ages can. Participants can register for the Pet Parade online or on-site at 10 a.m. in Sylvester Park. Capitol Way is closing down for the parade.
Opening remarks are at 10:20 a.m., followed by the gathering and lining up of participants.
Then, the parade starts at 10:30 a.m., when participants walk around Sylvester Park, north on Capitol Way and stop in the U.S. Bank parking lot, where other LoveOly SummerFest activities will be. These activities include a children’s area, games, live music and more.
The Daffy Doodles company will do free pet caricatures from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The LoveOly activities for children are presented by Small to Tall Pediatric Dentistry.
“The SummerFest is gonna be really fun down there,” Amanda Wilkening, Pet Parade event planning committee member and museum visitor engagement assistant director, told The Olympian. “It’s a great way to kick off summer.”
All participants will receive a 2-for-1 pass for admission to the Hands On Children’s Museum.
While there are still no judges, contests or prizes for the best costumes as was once a part of the tradition, Wilkening said the museum hopes there will be in the future.
For now, Wilkining said the museum focuses on the creative and educational opportunities that come with the parade, especially for children. In the days leading up to the parade, the museum has been hosting Paw-esome Costumes, a series of costume-making workshops.
“We have dreamed of bringing back the prizes and the different voting categories, we just haven’t found the right way to do that yet. But it is part of our vision to bring that back,” Peters said. “But we do really like the emphasis on the creativity because it just cultivates that really wonderful community energy.”
Parade participants may not use motorized or battery-operated vehicles unless they are mobility aids. The parade route includes sidewalks, so participants may not use bikes, scooters or skateboards, either.
Participating pets must be under control and comfortable around crowds. The museum encourages owners to pick up after them and will provide waste bags on-site.
This story was originally published June 16, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
