For the 45th annual Apple Festival, residents who line the streets Saturday, Sept. 30  for the Grande Parade will be treated to an array of floats featuring dragons, knights, castles and all things that meet this year’s theme: “45 Years of Enchantment.”

The parade will take place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30. The five-mile route starts at Sycamore and Second streets and winds through downtown, finishing on the east side of Niles High School, 1441 Eagle St.

Katie Lowe, the parade chairman and treasurer of the Apple Festival board, said the parade is always a favorite feature of the festival.

“Just seeing all the different floats and different people that come together to put an awesome parade together and seeing the streets fill with thousands of people is really cool to see,” Lowe said.

In addition to a parade, the Apple Festival includes a carnival, games, rides and loads of apple inspired treats. The festival will kick off this year at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept 28 through Sunday, Oct. 1 at the Apple Festival Grounds, located at N. 17th St. The festival typically draws between 50,000 to 100,000 people from all over the Michiana area.

More than 85 vendors have signed up to participate in the parade so far. Lowe said they expect at least 100 people to sign up for the parade. Registration is open through the day of the parade. Pre-registration is available on the Apple Festival website at fourflagsapplefestival.org. Those wishing to sign up the day of can do so by visiting the registration table which will be available until noon Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Niles City Hall, 333 N. Second St. 

The parade is free to enter and offers participants the chance to win 14 different awards based on the creativity and presentation of their float.

Some of the award categories include the Macintosh Tractor Award for the best tractor; Zapple the Apple Award for the best clown or costume character unit and the Rolling Wheels Award for best unit on wheels, as well as the Harmony Award for the best marching band unit.

Lowe complimented the hard work of the board, including parade co-chair Veronica Pockrandt for putting in hours of work since May to bring the parade together.

This year, the board selected Denton Fitz as the Grand Marshall of the parade. Each year, the Grand Marshall is chosen as an Apple Festival honor that recognizes an exemplary citizen of Niles. Fitz is a longtime Niles police officer, who recently retired, but left behind a legacy through his work with programs to discourage drug use among youth.

Fitz will join the parade in a car donated by Tyler Automotive.

A confirmation letter for those who have signed up for the parade will go out the week before the parade. In addition to registration confirmation, recipients of the letter will also get notification as to their numeric place in line in the parade.

The judging for awards is done prior to the parade at 10 a.m. except for awards involving bands or cheer groups, which are judged en route as the unit passes in front of the library. Check in for all parade participants begins at 8 a.m. All participants are encouraged to arrive between 7:30 to 8 a.m. to begin setup so they are prepared for judging. Winners will receive either a trophy or plaque.