2020 has been a con­stant reminder of the fragili­ty of our human place on our plan­et.  We were com­pelled to miss most of our hap­py tra­di­tions this year, the Fourth of July being the hard­est-hit with event can­cel­la­tions strewn across the US.  Espe­cial­ly affect­ed were small town cel­e­bra­tions and Julian’s was among the most dis­ap­point­ing.  2014 was a sad year for the Julian parade as well, when a wild­fire rag­ing into the pass threat­ened the town exact­ly when floats were assembling.

We still hold it true that when­ev­er Julian’s 4th of July Parade is on, it’s right on.  Parade-goers would agree that Julian’s offer­ing might very well win the Best of Small Town cat­e­go­ry, if there were such a cat­e­go­ry in a nation­al con­test.  It tru­ly gets bet­ter every year, includ­ing the appre­ci­a­tion of spec­ta­tors, but the red, white and blue adorn­ments all over town have mul­ti­plied like a chain of fire­works.  For a tiny town, it’s real­ly a mas­sive show put on by a nucle­us of car­ing peo­ple.  In 2015, atten­dance records were bro­ken with all three of Julian’s city blocks lined with spec­ta­tors three or four deep, help­ing to heal that dis­ap­point­ment of 2014’s last-minute cancellation.

The pan­dem­ic con­tin­ues to block our means to con­vene cel­e­bra­tions of any sort.  There is con­so­la­tion, how­ev­er, if we sort out pho­tos of past parades to relive them—and we have done just that—we picked some of our favorites and they’ve been assem­bled in the gal­leries below.  With time, with fresh enthu­si­asm, the side­walks of down­town Julian will be filled with spec­ta­tors and their cam­eras once again.

What’s it like to see the parade, if you’ve nev­er attend­ed?  Well, vin­tage fight­er planes put on a breath­tak­ing air show most years, mak­ing dozens of pass­es in sin­gle and mul­ti-plane for­ma­tions against the moun­tain blue sky.  This hap­pens just before the marchers, the dancers and and the “floats” roll down Main Street, USA.  One of the entries will receive the most humor­ous prize. For exam­ple, in 2015 that went to the weed-whack­er hot dog brigade—costumed with buns, mus­tard and ketchup and pre­tend­ing to mow the over­grown grass on Main Street.  In past years, sim­i­lar brigades were seen as Elvis imper­son­ators (ban­ner above) and even nasty girl scouts with chain saws. Spec­ta­tors are treat­ed to sev­er­al area pageant win­ners, like Miss Julian, Miss Bor­rego Springs and Miss Lake­side, as well as Miss Cal­i­for­nia of 2014 and Mrs. Cal­i­for­nia of 2014.

A big empha­sis in the parade are his­tor­i­cal call­ings, which are quite expect­ed by any­one attend­ing and of course these don’t dis­ap­point.  With a com­fy lawn chair and umbrel­la along the side­walk, his­tor­i­cal entries go quite well with the build­ings from the 1800s up and down Main Street.  In the past, parade entries have cel­e­brat­ed local mem­o­ries, cir­ca 1900 and before, when Julian was a vibrant gold min­ing town and part of the greater Amer­i­can West, remem­bered by its farms, its old farm machin­ery, the rais­ing of live­stock, the work of cow­boys, rid­ing buck­boards, stage­coach­es, mules and hors­es, walk­ing to school, build­ing cab­ins in homes, har­vest­ing orchards, attend­ing church, sup­ply­ing saloons, attend­ing town dances, per­form­ing local plays and con­certs, enter­ing beau­ty con­tests, prais­ing first respon­ders (espe­cial­ly fire­men!), remem­ber­ing vet­er­ans and our patri­ot­ic val­ues and the old pio­neers, too, and of course tend­ing kids.  Nat­u­ral­ly, as times have evolved, the parade has also reflect­ed the new things that have made Julian a haven for wide expression.

Click on any pho­to below for its best view­ing size in the gal­leries.  Once inside a gallery, you can oper­ate man­u­al slide show but­tons and return to this page by click­ing the “X” in the upper right of any pho­to frame.  All the pho­tos are fair­ly high res­o­lu­tion, so fast Inter­net works best and please give the page time to load.

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Scenes from Julian’s 4th of July Parade, 2015…

Pho­tos by Bar­bara Swanson

More scenes from 2015…

Pho­tos by Lee

Scenes from 2011…

Pho­tos by Bar­bara Swanson

More scenes from 2011…

Pho­tos by Lee

Scenes from 2009…

Pho­tos by Lee

Scenes from 2008…

Pho­tos by Bar­bara Swanson

Scenes from 2006…

Pho­tos by Lee

Scenes from 2000…

Pho­tos by Lee