This year's parade features more than 100 units, including floats, high school bands, the Second Time Arounders and the U.S. Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps. A marching band field show with performances by the Second Time Arounders and the St. Petersburg High School Devilettes will get under way in North Straub Park after the parade. One of the biggest changes in this year's festival is that it is shorter. Hosmer said events were scheduled closer together to give the public greater awareness of the festival and to give it a more cohesive feel. Suncoasters president Jim Newman said the idea is for people to come down for the parade on Saturday morning and then stay downtown all day to take in the other events.
People can eat lunch, walk around and see lots of things.
The festival will continue to invite them and give them the opportunity to perform in field shows, Hosmer said, but organizers will work harder to include local high school bands. Most of it comes from annual dues of more than 250 Suncoasters, the volunteer organization created to sponsor the festival after the Chamber of Commerce dropped it in 1954. Lee estimated that 600 to 700 people are working on this year's festival. Volunteers included the Suncoasters and their spouses, the St. Petersburg High School Devilettes, Rojans and Interact Club, St. Petersburg Leisure and Recreation Services and Pinellas County Schools. She said festival attendance will depend on the weather, but she expects 200,000 to 250,000.