Every year for more than half a century, the town of Camp Verde, Arizona, has recalled its frontier roots with the popular Fort Verde Days. The family-friendly event takes place on the second weekend in October with a good dose of patriotism, history and fun.
Fort Verde Days feature such events as flag-raising ceremonies; cavalry and infantry drills; an 1870s fashion show; free access to Fort Verde and its architectural and museum displays; period church services; cannon fire and historic reenactments. There is also a hometown baseball game, a Boardwalk-style fair with a Ferris wheel and many other rides, homemade food (such as barbecue, ice cream and jellies), games, live music, and vendors selling an assortment of novelties—from wind-powered metal art and oversized coloring books to truck and auto stickers. There is also and an old-fashioned parade, which engages the entire town.
Watching the Fort Verde Days parade is a throwback to another era, when parades went down Main Street and everything was sized to human scale. Camp Verde visitors join local families in cheering on their neighbors, who wear period costumes and promenade on horseback; in vintage Model Ts and Mustangs; and on tractors, Harleys and pickup trucks filled with stacks of hay. Most wave the American flag.
Many parade participants throw candy, and the children lining the pageant route collect nearly as many sweets as on Halloween.This is the way parades used to be a hundred years ago—homespun, not polished like a Broadway production.
For more information about Camp Verde Days, contact the Camp Verde Parks & Recreation Department at 928-567-0535.
9 Ways the Fort Verde Days’ Parade is NOT the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. At the Fort Verde Days’ Parade:
The focus is on history, not on pop culture
Horses predominate, not floats
The only balloons are hand-held; there are no two-story-high balloon cartoon characters or block-long caterpillars
Bagpipes and country music rule
Rescued dogs, such as greyhounds, are featured; not stuffed animals
The biggest celebrity is Miss Yavapai Apache
You’ll see clogging and ballroom dancing instead of the Rockettes, and
Storefronts along the parade route say “The Stable” and “The Station,” instead of Macy’s
The only way to see the Fort Verde Day parade is to be there
