PARENTS will be madly organising costumes for their children as the Kerang and District Schools Book Parade returns on Friday.
After a two-year hiatus due to COVID restrictions, the highly-anticipated parade is back and set to be better than ever.
Kerang Christian College community engagement officer Hayley Steel said the participating schools and the wider Kerang community are “really pumped” to see it in action once again.
“I’ve been talking to a lot of the shopkeepers just letting them know that there will be a road closure for a little while, and they are all excited, it’s, ‘no worries, whatever we can do to help’, everyone just wants to see it back,” Ms Steel said.
“There has just been such a positive response, and an acknowledgement of how unique it is – not many communities do this where we all get together as one and run this event.
“Normally a lot of schools do it individually, so it is a very special event and it has really been missed, so I think it is going to be a great turnout.”
Book Week is an initiative of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA), and the theme for 2022 is ‘dreaming with eyes open’.
During the week, a number of schools will be visiting the local library, as well as participating in other book-related activities that are specific to each school.
This year’s parade will be extra special to a lot of students, as there are a fair few who have never participated in it before despite having been at school for a number of years.
“They are in Prep and Grade 1, and they have never had a chance to take part in this, so they are really kind of excited to discover what it is about,” Ms Steel said.
Each class or school will choose a book and dress up as that book.
“There is old books like Willy Wonka and there’s brand new ones from this year’s list like Blue Flower. So we’ve gone from a book that was written in the 60s all the way to now, and it’s everything in between,” Ms Steel said.
“It is really fun to see how they interpret each book and some of the creativeness that comes from the costumes.”
The parade will begin at 11.30am on Friday. Students will gather at Kerang Primary School, before they embark on their usual route around the Kerang CBD and finish near the IGA on Victoria Street.
Spectators are encouraged to come and stand out on the footpaths of Albert, Scoresby, Fitzroy, Wellington and Victoria streets to encourage the children.
Gannawarra Shire Council Deputy Mayor Jane Ogden will be emcee for the parade, introducing each group and their book as they walk down Victoria Street.
Ms Steel said there has been a great deal of effort from many people to help get the parade up and running again.
“Just a big thankyou to everyone that has gotten on board and helped us with their time and their knowledge to help us get this going again, because it is just too special to let go and we are just so pleased to see it come back,” she said.
“We really hope everyone comes out and supports the kids and just cheers them on and enjoys it.”
