2019 St. Augustine Easter Parade to be held on Saturday, April 20

ST AUGUSTINE, Fla. - Feb. 1, 2019 - PRLog -- The St. Augustine Easter Week Festival announced today that the renowned and entertaining Easter parade will be held on Saturday, April 20 beginning at 9 a.m. The historic parade route starts at the Old Jail Museum, 167 San Marco Avenue and runs through the historic district in downtown St. Augustine, Fla.

According to David Chatterton, St. Augustine Easter Week Festival Parade Director since 2008, the parade will be moving its event date for the first time in 60 years from Easter Sunday to the Saturday before Easter. The parade date move is in honor of the religious holiday and families who want to be together to celebrate, and to avoid a challenge for individual and organization participation in the parade on Easter Sunday. The parade is focused on drawing thousands of local spectators from St. Augustine and St. Johns County, along with destination visitors.

This year, the Parade's grand marshals are songwriters/musicians from the St Augustine Songwriters' Festival. The Songwriters' Festival was created by Dylan Rumrell and Arlis Albritton in an effort to feature today's hottest hit songwriters, legends of yesterday and shining stars of tomorrow.  The Songwriters Festival brings the songwriters to St Augustine where they perform their hits that are known world-wide.  Details still to come.

"Holding the St. Augustine Easter Parade on Saturday morning will make participation by civic and community groups, churches and clubs easier while allowing them to have Easter Sunday as a family holiday," said Paul Williamson, the city's public affairs director. "Many downtown businesses that are closed on Easter will be open for customers on Saturday, and by having the event in the morning, parking restrictions and detours will be over by noon on Saturday with none on Easter Sunday." Williamson said that the change will also make city-provided services more readily available because the event is on a Saturday and not on a Sunday, and specifically not on Easter Sunday.

"The St. Augustine Easter Parade has been a part of our community for generations and the City of St. Augustine is hopeful that the community will support it by being in it or planning to watch it," said Williamson, adding "that way we can ensure this tradition's continued success for generations to come."

The parade is produced for residents, their families and friends along with domestic and international visitors who set up chairs and stand along the parade route. The opportunity to visit and share the excitement of the locally focused parade is a 60-year tradition in historic downtown St. Augustine, Nation's Oldest City. The special day honors spectators, participants and the hard-working team of volunteers who are credited for planning the renowned area accomplishment. Family-friendly and fun aspects of the parade include prizes awarded to participants including local non-profits, youth, volunteer and service organizations, citizens and civic groups, and many others. Categories for prizes are open, historic and Easter divisions.

The St. Augustine Easter Parade began with the organization of the non-profit St. Augustine Easter Week Festival. The family friendly parade is known as the Parada de los Caballos y Coches, Parade of Horses and Carriages, and features St. Augustine's Royal Family, the Easter Bunny, clowns, drill teams, community floats and marching bands. The St. Augustine Easter Week Festival culminates with the Parade, a tradition headed by Sandy Tilton, President of the St. Augustine Easter Week Festival.

For more information about the St. Augustine Easter Week Festival, contact St. Augustine Easter Parade Director Dave Chatterton at (904) 829-3800 or email dchatterton@trolleytours.com. Visit the website at http://www.oldestcityeaster.org/.