Rain or shine, tens of thousands of people expected to take in Lilac Festival in downtown Spokane
May 16—It could rain on the Lilac parade Saturday night in downtown Spokane as parade procession numbers and, hopefully, the number of attendees inch closer to pre-pandemic levels, said Dave Weatherred, director of parades.
"We are definitely ready," Weatherred said. "We hope the weather cooperates, but even if it doesn't, we had a bit of a rain shower last year, and everything we were told was people had a great time anyway."
The 87th annual Spokane Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade starts at 7:30 p.m. at Washington Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard. The procession heads south on Washington before zigzagging east and west in a northerly direction until it finishes on Spokane Falls Boulevard near Post Street.
A low pressure system moving through the region will bring about one-tenth of an inch of rain from late Friday night to late Saturday night to the Spokane area, according to Antoinette Serrato, meteorologist at the National Weather Service Spokane. Most showers are expected to fall Saturday afternoon, she said.
Isolated thunderstorms that could bring heavy rainfall and high winds are also possible Saturday afternoon and evening, Serrato said.
Rain and even a shooting inside P.M. Jacoy's convenience store that injured two people happened during last year's parade. The parade was paused and rerouted after the shooting.
Weatherred said police officers, who were already spread out along the parade route, responded to the shooting in a hurry and collaborated with parade officials. A person at each section of the parade has a radio with them, so they were able to communicate quickly about next steps following the shooting, he said.
"It showed, I believe, that we have some really good policies in place," Weatherred said.
Spokane Police Department Officer Daniel Strassenberg, spokesman for the department, called the shooting an "anomaly." He said police are well-versed on where resources need to be and are always prepared.
"We're always staffed appropriately to prepare for contingencies if they are to arise," Strassenberg said.
Weatherred said the parade will have almost 160 "units." The largest Lilac parade was about 200 units, he said. The units include over 5,000 marching band members who will travel as far away as Seattle to perform in the procession.
He estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people will watch the parade, but those numbers could dwindle if storms roll in. About 80,000 people watched before the pandemic.
"It's slowly been building back up to the size it was before COVID," Weatherred said.
He encouraged attendees to come early and prepare to park on the outskirts of the parade route and walk a bit for viewing.
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