West Hartford’s Park Road Association is planning to transition to a series of smaller events after staging the final Park Road Parade on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.

By Ronni Newton

The West Hartford community will not want to miss this year’s Park Road Parade – the swan song for the event that first kicked off in 1999 as a light-hearted celebration meant to bring the neighborhood together after a lengthy construction project.

It turned into an annual and much-anticipated event, but only one Park Road Parade has actually been held in the past four years, with the 2020 event canceled due to COVID-19, and rain caused cancellation in both 2022 and 2023. Organizers are determined that the parade will go on this year – barring any dangerous weather – and the most recent National Weather Service predictions and other forecasts are looking good as of mid-day Thursday, and calling for sunny skies and above-average temperatures.

The parade will step off at 10:30 a.m. from the intersection of Park Road and South Highland Street, and head west along Park Road, past the intersection with South Quaker Lane, and end at Jessamine Street. More than 50 units are scheduled to participate, and include bands from Hall High School and Bristow Middle School, Connecticut Valley Field Music, Hartt School of Music Brazilian Samba Band, Marlborough Jr. Ancient Fife & Drum Corps, Rob the Drummer, Windsor Fife & Drum, and the Boys of Wexford. Also participating in the parade are Anne Cubberly’s Giant Puppets, dancers, floats, and more.

Awards will be given for Best Float, Best Overall Performance, Best Costume, Best Musical Performance, and Best Community Spirit with Darlene Zoller and Rick Fountain from Playhouse on Park judging as well as emceeing the parade. West Hartford Community Interactive will also air the parade live on Comcast Channel 5/Frontier 6098.

22nd Annual Park Road Parade. West Hartford, CT. Oct. 2, 2021. Photo credit: Ronni Newton (we-ha.com file photo)

Rather than spending the majority of its efforts planning an event that is highly weather-dependent, Park Road Association Co-presidents Tracy Flater and Johnny Paindiris, along with Tony Landino and other parade organizers and association members, announced this summer that they have decided to move forward with holding multiple smaller events to engage the community and unite the neighborhood.

A special happy hour was held last week along Park Road’s Restaurant Row (132-140 Park Road), and those businesses are also hosting “parade watch” events on Saturday.

The 2024 Park Road is dedicated to Rob Rowlson, one of the parade’s founders, who sadly passed away in 2022. WFSB reporter and community service icon Renée DiNino will be grand marshal, and all past parade grand marshals will be invited to participate.

Road closures begin at 9 a.m. Handicap parking is available at 120 Park Road. Spectator parking is located on Richard St., Crosby St., Gillette St., Ringgold St., and Oakwood Avenue (south of Crosby Street). There is ample parking on the arterial streets north of Boulevard between South Highland and South Quaker.

More details about Saturday’s Park Road Parade, its history, and the decision to make this year’s parade the last, can be found here.

For more information about the Oct. 5 event, visit the Parade website, parkroadct.com/about-the-parade.

22nd Annual Park Road Parade. West Hartford, CT. Oct. 2, 2021 Photo credit: Ronni Newton (we-ha.com file photo)

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