It seems like every Colorado tourist town has a summer festival, and Leadville is no exception. Boom Days celebrates Leadville's mining history with a street fair, parade, burro races, and contests of mining skill.
After a flyover by a plane from the Leadville airport, the parade started with a color guard and then plenty of bands, exhibits and a couple of floats.
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| Flyover |
There were all sorts of different folks in the parade. This lady had a bicycle she has owned since 1955.
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| Original Owner |
Ed, the hatchery manager is quite a craftsmen and has been building floats to compete in Boom Days Parade for several years. This year's theme was the Carlton Tunnel which is one of the many tunnels in the area. Ed started with a black plastic 55 gallon drum and created an amazing looking locomotive pulling an aquarium car out of the tunnel.
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| Friends of the Leadville Fish Hatchery |
Friends of the Leadville Fish Hatchery led our float through the parade. They were wearing trout hats and handing out fish-shaped candy. Free candy was the big draw for the kids.
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| Leadville Fish Hatchery Float |
Children of two of the refuge personnel rode in the float and had a great time. There were only a couple of other floats in the parade, and it was no contest as far as awarding "Best Float". Ed's locomotive won easily.
One thing that you won't see in most small town parades is a marijuana van! With recreational usage being legal there are marijuana businesses all over Colorado, marked by a green cross. Several folks called out for free samples, but they weren't providing any!!
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| "Natures Medicine" |
The most entertaining group was marching with a local cookie company. These teenagers were running around in dinosaur costumes and keeping the kids entertained. I don't know how they could see where they were going.
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| Watch Out for the Dinosaurs! |
An entertaining duo was this pair of ladies representing a local saloon. They were really hamming it up and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
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| Saloon Gals |
When was the last time you saw someone riding a unicycle?? There was a group of several kids riding in the parade, and this young man wins the prize for the tallest!
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| One Tall Unicycle |
It was a fun little festival, and we were glad to see the hatchery float take home the big prize!
Mark
What fun! I love those small town parades (although yours looks fairly big)... you just don't see that spirit and excitement everywhere!
ReplyDeleteThe small parades are so entertaining. I love the train also. Very ingenious.
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