Parade Entry Form 2025

  • Bell Tower Festival Parade Form

    Please fill out the details below to be included in the Parade at BTF 2026
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  • The annual BTF Parade is hosted by the Rotary Club of Jefferson. The parade is scheduled for 11:00 am on Saturday, June 13th, 2026. The route begins at the Greene County Middle School (101 Ram Drive, Jefferson), with registration at the Highway 4 entrance. A parade committee member will direct you to your placement in the parade line-up.

    Please complete the Parade Entry Form and be sure to fill out the 'length of entry' and the number of vehicles. You will be asked to sign an insurance release on the day of the parade. No charge for parade entry through Friday, June 12th. Day-of entries will be charged $20 cash.

    We request that all entries arrive at the Middle School no later than 10:00 am so that we can get entries lined up in time for the start of the parade. As with all public events, safety is of the utmost importance to the festival and parade committees. The Bell Tower Festival and the Rotary Club of Jefferson reserve the right to immediately remove anyone deemed as acting in an unsafe manner during the parade. Entries with significant height must be able to safely navigate the parade route without touching power or telephone wires and trees. Large trucks and floats with obstructed views must provide walking participants to help with safe navigation. Horse entries are allowed only if they come with their own clean-up crew that follows throughout the parade.

    *SAME ROUTE AS LAST YEAR* The parade begins at the middle school as usual and continues north on Chestnut. The route will then head EAST on Lincoln Way and end near the Greene County Fairgrounds. You will be reminded day of and instructed to follow the flow of traffic.

    **REMINDER OF START AND FINISH LOCATIONS** For those of you riding on a float or walking in the parade, we suggest parking at one of the following locations, so you may be dropped off with your vehicle after the parade: 1) The Freedom Rock (on Lincolnway), 2) the parking lot across the street from the fairgrounds, 3) on a side street between downtown and the farigrounds. There is an event all weekend at the fiargrounds, so their parking lots will be unavailable.

    We have plans for a shuttle to and fro for those parked at the Fairgrounds. For the drivers of floats or trailers you will set up at the middle school and should be free to go once you drop off your riders/walkers at the Fairgrounds on the end of the route. Our post-parade route: drop off any riders, turn north on Cedar St, head East on Washington St, and turn onto highway 4 to get where you need to go!

  • Format: (000) 000-0000.

  • Number of vehicles * .

  • Total length in feet: * . (Guide: cars= 18ft, vehicle pulling a float = 45ft, semi-truck = 65ft, walkers = 15ft, golf carts = 15ft, tractors = 20ft)

  • Judging - You may choose to have your entry judged in one of five categories:

    • Commerical -- Business enterprises
    • Non-commercial -- Non-profit groups, class reunions, service organizations, and other non-business enterprises
    • BTF Thematic -- Entries that depict this years' theme of the Festival: "Saddle Up!"
    • Best Float -- Entries that include a *float as the main focus of the entry - winner of this category will receive the BTF Parade Best Float Traveling Trophy, which will be engraved with the winner's name and year. The trophy can be proudly displayed in the winner's location until next year's Bell Tower Festival.

    *a float is defined as a trailer which is pulled by a vehicle. The trailer should be fully decorated and can include people riding the float. The pulling vehicle and additional walkers or vehicles can be decorated to compliment the float. The float can depict the entity that is entering it, the BTF theme, or the Rotary theme. Floats can be entered for judging in this category and also one other category.

     

    Due to the expected large number of entries for judging, any entry that has not been properly staged into the parade by 10:00 am will not be eligible for judging. It is recommended to arrive at the Parade Registration area no later than 9:30 am to assure sufficient time to be properly staged by 10:00 am. Judging will begin promptly at 10:00 am. The determination of the judges chosen by the Rotary Club of Jefferson will be final.

  • Thank you for your interest in the 2026 Bell Tower Festival Parade - we can't wait to see you in June!

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