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closePuyallup, Bethel bands won’t march in Daffodil Parade
Due to budget constraints for Bethel and a spring break scheduling conflict for Puyallup, marching bands won’t be in parade
Roxanne Cooke
Next April, locals may notice some groups missing from the Daffodil parade. Eight bands from the Bethel School District and 10 from Puyallup will not participate. In addition, ROTC, cheerleaders, drill teams and other groups from Bethel schools will not be present during the 76th year of the Daffodil Festival.
The parade date — April 4 — falls on the last weekend of spring break, which is the reason Puyallup schools will not march, said district spokesperson Karen Hansen. Bethel School District officials cited a tight budget, rather than the date, as their reason for not participating. Sumner School District is still part of the Festival and Tacoma schools will likely be involved in some form, though it’s too early to say which groups.
Daffodil Festival organizers selected the April 4 date for the parade because the following Sunday is Easter and the weekend after is The Spring Fair, an event that the Festival has agreed not to overlap with, said Susan McGuire, vice president of public relations for the Festival.
“It’s not ideal, but that’s when it is,” she said.
Other factors go into the mix: Organizers prefer to have the event earlier in April so that good-quality daffodils are still available, but not as early as March because weather is unpredictable and it may still be too cold and cloudy, McGuire said.
The WASL testing window is yet another event Festival organizers don’t want to interfere with, she said.
“We don’t want to disrupt that,” McGuire said. “That’s too important.”
The parade dates are planned 10 years in advance and viewable on the Festival’s Web site, she said. In the past, the third Saturday of April was the go-to date, but The Spring Fair conflicts with that in 2009.
Still more goes into the decision, McGuire said. There are many other events involved that determine what weekend the Daffodil Festival will occur, including the Daffodil Princess Coronation, Junior Daffodil Parade, Marine Parade and Most Magnificent Mutt Show.
Guests from out of town and out of state who participate in the parade are taken into consideration too, she said. Having the parade during Easter weekend means those folks may choose not to come.
“It’s not just a parade that we do, there’s a whole bunch of events,” McGuire said. “It’s not just us that it affects.”
But for Puyallup, there’s more than just a spring break conflict. Puyallup School District schools have a concert band program, rather than marching band, Hansen said. That means bands spend the weeks prior to the Festival learning new music, and practicing on the street on the days leading up to the parade is an important part of that.
“In order to gear up for the Daffodil parade, band directors have to teach entirely different music,” she said. “It’s very critical practice time for them.”
It would be unfair to require all band students to give up their break and vacation plans for practice, and having multiple members missing is not an option, Hansen said.
Puyallup normally has 10 bands from seven junior highs and three high schools participating in the Festival, she said. She doesn’t recall the spring break conflict happening in the past.
“Unfortunately that will prohibit our bands from being able to march,” Hansen said. “It’s not a decision that we want to make. It’s a practical decision. We have had ongoing dialogue with Festival organizers, trying to get them to consider other dates.”
Bethel School District originally requested the Festival change the date to avoid the vacation conflict, but later realized they would not be able to participate anyway because of budget restrictions, said Dodie Raden, with the Bethel School District communications department. The district cannot cover the expense of the buses that transport the band students.
“We think it’s a wonderful event, and we really are sorry to not be able to participate,” Raden said. “We’re very hopeful to be able to return to participate as usual as soon as the budget allows. We have always enjoyed an excellent rapport with the people of the Daffodil Festival.”
McGuire was unsure if having fewer bands participate would affect finances, but she said it will definitely affect the length of the parade.
The Festival organizers are disappointed by Puyallup’s decision, she said.
“It’s unfortunate that Puyallup has taken this stance,” McGuire said. “It’s their loss.”
As for Bethel’s budgetary reasons, McGuire said: “There’s nothing they can do about that. I totally understand when it’s a financial issue.”
The Tacoma School District will likely participate, but it’s too early in the school year to know for sure, said Pam Thompson, public information assistant. The district will definitely have a float for the Daffodil Princesses.
“We will participate in some way but we just don’t know which groups,” Thompson said.
In Sumner, the date of the parade has not affected the school district’s participation.
“We’re not concerned,” Sumner School District spokeswoman Ann Cook said. “We are not asking the parade to change their date.”
Band students participate in a number of events throughout the year, sometimes overlapping with vacations and holidays, she continued. Not all students are required to attend all events.
Historically, there has been a three-week window in which spring break is scheduled, Cook said. It would be unrealistic to have to cancel all events and sports for three weeks, and students and families involved in sports and music learn to schedule their vacations around those activities.
For these three school districts, some sports practices and games still occur during spring break. Those have been planned in advance as part of the season and students and families can work with the coaches if vacation time is an issue.
Sumner and Bonney Lake students have the option of not attending events during breaks, Cook said. In Puyallup, sports continue through the break but no band performances are scheduled, Hansen said.