Coronavirus Update: Novato Cancels July 4th Parade Over Coronavirus Fears
NOVATO (CBS SF) -- Another annual tradition has fallen to the coronavirus -- Novato has cancelled its Fourth of July parade and Independence Day celebration on Grant Avenue, organizers announced.
"It's the right thing to do considering the public health consequences of bringing a crowd together," Board President Mike Read said in
a news release.
The Board of Directors wanted to give participants, sponsors and volunteers plenty of notice about the cancellation. The parade's 2020 theme was to be "The Power of Her Vote" to mark the centennial of the women's suffrage movement.
"We've been monitoring the information coming from Marin County's Public Health Division and the Governor's Offices as well as the fate of
other major events such as the Marin County Fair. Seeing other large public events get canceled because of social distancing guidelines made us realize that we can no longer plan on the parade taking place this July," Read said. "We hope Novato finds other ways to have a spectacular 4th of July and celebrates the founding of our country. We will see everybody in 2021."
Novato had Independence Day parades before the city was founded in 1960, but went without a parade until the modern day parade organization was established in 1993.
It's now the largest single-day holiday parade of its kind in the North Bay. As many as 10,000 people attend the event along the seven-tenths of a mile parade route.
The Novato Parade Committee is a 501(C) nonprofit group that receives in-kind and financial support from Marin County, the city of Novato,
sponsors and donors.
