Sequim Gazette staff

First time’s the charm for Sequim Irrigation Festival’s new royalty and float.

 

Volunteers and royalty won the Grand Sweepstakes award with their carousel float on April 9 at the Daffodil Festival Grand Floral Parade in Tacoma.

 

They prepped the float with 2,000 daffodils the night before and overcame a flat tire to take home the best in parade award based on their overall point score.

 

Joe Borden, the float designer, said Sequim’s 2010 float won Grand Sweepstakes at the Port Townsend Rhododendron Festival but they haven’t won something of this caliber for a long time at a larger, more competitive parade like the one in Tacoma.

 

“I thought it was good but I had no idea this good,” Borden said.

 

He said many of the bigger floats from bigger cities cost as much as $30,000 to build. Sequim’s float is completely volunteer-made and this year’s float cost about $3,000.

 

The next parade is Sequim’s Irrigation Festival Kids Parade and Grand Parade Saturday, May 14. The float and royalty are expected to participate in 14 parades through September.

 

For an in-depth perspective on a day in the life of a princess and the parade experience, read next week’s Sequim Gazette.