‘Everybody has the right to dream’: Middle school bands put on show for thousands who turned out for Spokane Junior Lilac Parade

Dressed in light green T-shirts, black pants and shoes and knitted green Shrek hats, the Centennial Middle School band played Smash Mouth’s “All Star” as they marched Saturday morning through downtown Spokane.

The group was one of many local middle school bands that showed off their talents at the 71st annual Junior Lilac Parade. The Spokane Lilac Festival Association parade drew thousands of people – many dressed in shorts and T-shirts for the 70-plus degree temperature – to downtown sidewalks and curbs.

Centennial Middle School (Spokane Valley) cheerleaders, like Ava Holzer, accompanied their band and choreographed their moves to “All Star.”

It was the first parade for Holzer, who said the scary experience turned into a fun one when she saw familiar faces in the crowd.

“I think we did pretty good,” Holzer said. “We nailed all the moves.”

The cheerleaders wore white shirts with green letters that read, “Dare to Dream,” the festival’s theme for the 86th annual festival week, which kicked off with Saturday’s parade.

Elisabeth Hooker, festival co-president with Carly Cortright, said the theme is an homage to the founders of Expo ’74.

Inspired by the theme, Centennial Middle School cheer coach Christine Vaccarezza said the band chose to perform, “All Star,” which is commonly linked to the movie, “Shrek.”

“Everybody has the right to dream and everybody is a star in our minds,” Vaccarezza said.

Besides playing for fun, the bands competed for the right to participate in next Saturday night’s Armed Forces Torchlight Parade in downtown Spokane. Judges were spread throughout the parade route, and ultimately, chose Northwood Middle School in the Mead School District as the winner, the festival announced Saturday afternoon.

Other bands and dancers won awards in different categories.

Aaron and Jessica Cheuvront watched from Stevens Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard as their daughter performed with the Greenacres Middle School band from the Central Valley School District.

Jessica Cheuvront said the parade gives the band an opportunity to showcase what they’ve learned.

“It’s something that she looks forward to every year,” Jessica Cheuvront said. “Lots of work goes into it. They start marching about a month in advance and start practicing in school, so it’s kind of fun to come down here and watch them and all the work that goes into it.”

Hooker said it’s a joy to see the middle school bands play after all the time and effort they put in preparing for the parade.

“It’s a really celebratory moment for them,” Hooker said.

Hooker and Cortright sat and waved to the crowd in the back of a black Chevrolet Corvette at the start of the parade. Festival royalty, wearing purple dresses and sporting crowns, followed on their sparkling float.

“It was a great crowd,” Hooker said. “It was really fun waving to them from our parade grand marshal car and see all those smiling faces and happy people.”

She said the weather was beautiful.

“It felt like Mother Nature said, ‘It’s Lilac Festival time, it’s the celebration of Expo ’74. Let’s kick off this May the right way,’ ” Hooker said.