Kids’ culture parade at Fort Vancouver May 19

VANCOUVER — More than 1,500 students, supported by school marching bands, will take part in the annual Children’s Culture Parade on May 19 at Fort Vancouver.

The parade will be presented by the National Park Service and the Evergreen and Vancouver school districts.

The parade begins at 10:15 a.m. just north of Pearson Air Museum, 1115 E. Fifth St., and continues north on East Reserve Street. The route turns west on Evergreen Boulevard, and turns south just past the Visitor Center to follow the Park Road across East Fifth Street into the park’s reconstructed Fort Vancouver, 1001 E. Fifth St.

The parade gives third- and fourth-grade students the chance to celebrate the community’s diversity and their family heritages.

Once the students enter the reconstructed fort, National Park Service volunteers will greet visitors wearing 1840s traditional clothing, illustrating Vancouver’s diverse past.

The public is encouraged to join the students and civic officials at 11 a.m. in the reconstructed fort. The entry fee will be waived for the event, which is scheduled to end at 11:45 a.m.

Because of road closures on the east entrances to the park for the parade, visitors should enter from the northwest corner of the park on Fort Vancouver Way.