[box]Update: see full coverage and video of the 2015 parade here: Citrus Heights celebrates with Red, White & Blue Parade[/box]
Citrus Heights will host its 16th annual Red, White & Blue Parade on June 27 this year, planning to kick off the event with a skydiver demo and feature festivities like the Summer Carnival in the Sunrise Mall parking lot afterward.
The parade is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday and will travel along Sunrise Boulevard, starting just north of Madison Avenue and ending near Greenback Lane at the Sunrise Mall.
Motorists are advised to avoid the parade area due to several planned road closures between 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. According to the City’s website, Sunrise Boulevard will be closed between Madison Avenue and Greenback Lane from 8 a.m. to noon, and Birdcage Street will be closed between Uplands Way and Farmgate Way from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Uplands Way will also be closed from 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., between Sunrise Boulevard and Primrose Drive.
Traditionally held on the fourth Saturday in June each year, the parade dates back around Citrus Heights’ founding and was originally created as a “happy birthday” to the City, according to organizer Michele Saario. Several years later, in 2002, the event became known as the “Red, White & Blue” Parade, due in part to the September 11 terrorist attack.
Saario said organizers seek to draw about 100 entries and floats each year from civic clubs, businesses, nonprofits, and other groups — with a focus on drawing some new music and animal entries this year to add a “new dynamic” to the parade. The parade will also feature various awards, including a Mayor’s Trophy Award and a $500 certificate to Northridge Music, according to a parade flier.
The annual event is sponsored by the City of Citrus Heights, Republic Services, 101.9 The Wolf, and Hot 103.5, with the skydiving demo sponsored by Sunrise Marketplace.
[Also on The Sentinel: Community Camp Out planned for Rusch Park in July ]
The nearby 3-day Summer Carnival will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the Sunrise Mall parking lot on Saturday, and will also be open Friday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m., according to the Mall’s website.
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