The City of Gaithersburg and the Gaithersburg-Washington Grove Fire Department will celebrate the unofficial end of summer with the 86th Annual Labor Day Parade on Monday, Sept. 2, at a new start time at 10 a.m. This year’s emcee is Larry Miller, a multiple-Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning morning news anchor and consumer investigative reporter for WUSA 9-TV in Washington, D.C.
The parade will feature high school marching bands, dance groups, costumed characters, antique cars and fire engines, equestrian units, clowns and more. They will wind their way down East Diamond and Russell avenues in the Olde Towne section of Gaithersburg. Food vendors will be located at Olde Towne Plaza and the parking lot next to the Gaithersburg-Washington Grove Fire Station.
The Gaithersburg Labor Day Parade is one of the City’s oldest traditions. The Gaithersburg Fire Department established a rescue squad in 1938 and that year its volunteers hosted traditional fundraising events such as dinners and dances and a Labor Day Parade. Early parades included a band competition, carnival booths and a dance. Eventually the carnival and dance aspects ceased to be a profitable way for the department to raise money, but the volunteers continued to sponsor the Labor Day parade until 1977, when a citizen's committee undertook the task of organizing the end-of-summer festivity. The event is now coordinated by the City of Gaithersburg Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture, with continued support from the Gaithersburg-Washington Grove Fire Department.
Free parking is available at the Lakeforest Shopping Center transit station, with free shuttle service to Gaithersburg Elementary School between 8 and 9:30 a.m. The last bus after the parade will leave at approximately 1:30 p.m.
Those who wish to view the parade in the shade along Russell Avenue can walk there from the transit station by way of Odendhal Avenue. Limited free parking is available in the Olde Towne Parking Garage, located at the corner of Olde Towne and South Summit avenues. Accessible parking for those with disability placards or plates is available behind the Victor Litz store on the north side of Diamond Avenue and behind the Shell station on South Summit Avenue.
For more information about the event, visit www.gaithersburgMD.gov or call 301-258-6350.
This year’s Labor Day Parade is sponsored by Premiere Sponsor Chick-fil-A, Presenting Sponsor Amazon Fresh, Skypoint Credit Union and Contributing Sponsor Goldfish Swim School.
