21 June, 2024
Let’s get ready to “Horrible”! July 4th, Independence Day, is just a few weeks away, are you ready for the return of the town’s “Horribles” Parade? The “Ancient and Horribles” parade is a New England tradition dating back to the 1800’s. Commonly referred to as the “Horribles” parade in Hopkinton, it is a parade originated to have some fun with national and local “political satire”, sort of like a floating “political roast”.
The theme for this year’s parade is “America the Beautiful”.
As we want this to return to a very family friendly event, some rules:
1. Tasteful float messages please, no hate speech or obscene material and remember, at the end of the day, we are all neighbors
2. No water balloons or water hoses, NO EXCEPTIONS. The focus of squirt guns should be fun for the kids. Please!
3. Candy for children is allowed.
All individuals, families, neighborhoods, businesses and organizations are welcome and encouraged to enter a float or march in the parade.
A panel of 3 judges will present float awards for:
1. Select Board Award – Most Horrible
2. 1st Place
3. 2nd Place
4. 3rd Place
5. Children’s Award
6. Family Award
7. Most Patriotic
Horribles Parade timeline:
July 4, 2024
11:30 Assemble at the Town Common/Center School
12:00 Step off for the start of the parade. Parade route is Park to Hayden Rowe to Grove to Pleasant to Main
12:30 End of parade at Town Common; Awarding of float prizes
Please contact HOPRTC-Chair@outlook.com if you are planning to join the parade for better planning purposes.
