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Washington!
7
To The Land of Lilac
It is that time of the year! Spokane sets its gear in celebrating the 75th annual Lilac festival. It all started when J. J. Browne planted the first two bushes of lilac in Spokane during the early 1900s. The town’s people were encouraged to plant lilac all around the city and upheld the name, “Lilac City”. It was Lila Sayre, in the 1930s, who suggested that the city of Spokane held a spring Lilac Festival every year to celebrate the flower that can be seen everywhere in the place.
This one day event of flower shows, and parades with marching bands later on became a week-long celebration up until now. Lilacs of different species adorn houses, hotels, and streets. Seedlings for the flower were handed to guests. By 1946, the Lilac Festival association was officially formed. More events were added to the celebration like the flower display competition in the Marie Antoinette Room of the Davenport Hotel and the Lilac Queen Pageant.
After World War II, the military float was added to the parade and the Arm Forces Day became an important event for the Lilac Festival.
Major entertainers like Dana Andres, Ink Spots, and Gordon MacRae were invited to participate in the festival during the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Carnival was also added to the week-long celebration during the late 1950s. Sports competitions like bicycling were added in the next decade after that.
The objectives of the festival were to celebrate Spokane as the Lilac City, to attract regional and national attention to the city, to showcase the talents of the town’s people, and to salute armed forces residing in the area.
by: Mia Mae Kiamco