Ritzville takes best float, 24 marching bands among awardees in Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade
May 17-Judges announced the winners of the awards for excellence in the annual Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade, held Saturday evening.
Thousands of parade participants and tens of thousands more attendees from across the Northwest took to downtown on Saturday in the 88th year of the parade. Each year, judges from the Spokane Lilac Festival Association dub the best of the bunch in categories for float design, horsemanship and school marching band excellence.
Here are this year's honorees.
Lilac Gold Standards AwardsTwo expert judges positioned themselves near the start of the parade route, rating some 13 elements in each of the 40 marching bands who took part this year.
Each band is eligible for the Gold Standards Award providing they meet judges' marks, said Parade Director Dave Weatherred. This helps foster a healthy competition while also ensuring bands from smaller towns still shine among larger schools with more kids and resources, Weatherred said.
"I was blown away by how many of the bands, even from small towns, really did a good job and really worked hard at looking great last night," Weatherred said.
Around 60% of what judges base their scores on is musical, Weatherred said. The rest are elements like posture, entertainment and camaraderie.
The 24 winners of the award, in no particular order:
* Mt. Spokane Wildcats
* Cashmere High School
* Cheney High School
* West Seattle High School
* Mead High School
* Evergreen Middle School
* Highland High School Scotties
* Rogers High School
* Lewis and Clark High School
* Lakeside High School
* Mariner High School
* Liberty Lancers
* Medical Lake High School
* Ferris High School
* North Central High School
* Oak Harbor High School
* Moses Lake High School
* Quincy High School
* Reardan Edwall High School
* Prosser High School
* Central Valley High School
* Ridgeline High School
* Shadle Park High School
* University High School
Best float awards
Parade judges separate winners of awards for float design based on the town's population from which they come. The Torchlight awards for best lighting have yet to be announced.
Lilac Sweepstakes Award (Best Overall Community Float): Ritzville
Queen's Award (Best in Population 500-2,000)
* 1st: Freeman
* 2nd: Manson
* 3rd: Oroville
President's Award (Best in Population 2,000-15,000)
* 1st: Deer Park
* 2nd: Sunnyside
* 3rd: Prosser
Grand Marshall Award (Best in Population 15,000-700,000)
* 1st: Wenatchee
* 2nd: Penticton
* 3rd: Valleyfest
Richard Logerwell Memorial Award: Sunnyside
Equestrian Awards
Michael Dedmon Memorial Award of Excellence: Miss Newport Rodeo
Evelyn Jones "Best Overall Equestrian": Miss Colorama Pro Rodeo
Lilac Spirit Award: Ellensburg Rodeo Queen
Elena Perry's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 7:23 PM.