Founders Day parade canceled, carnival still sees large turnout

Founders Day looked a bit different this year, lacking the infamous parade and all its floats, candy and miscellaneous goodies.

Dripping Springs’ celebration of heritage and pioneer spirit was scheduled to take place on and around Mercer Street from April 28 through 30.

The largest city event of the year, Founders Day celebrates the founding of the Dripping Springs community. This year, however, the festival’s kickoff event was not able to continue as planned.

City officials, along with the Founders Day Festival Commission, met with area emergency management officials and representatives from the National Weather Service on the afternoon of Friday, April 28. The result was the cancellation of the parade — with no rescheduling.

“Our area is expecting severe weather early this evening that includes potential lightning, hail and possible tornadoes,” the city said in a statement. “For the safety of all parade participants and parade viewers, we are canceling tonight’s Founders Day Festival Parade. If we were to experience hail and lightning, we would not have sufficient shelter or any way to keep children and families safe.”

“The National Weather Service expects the severe weather to pass through quickly, so all other Festival activities for today will go on as planned but will be dependent on when the storm has cleared our area,” the city added. “We know that many will be disappointed. We want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding. Our top priority is the safety of all our residents and visitors.”

A wide variety of activities are offered during the Founders Day festival, including the Mighty Thomas Carnival, delicious food, barbecue cook-off competitions, live music and more than 150 arts and craft booths and vendors. These remained available to the public over the weekend, seeing a large turnout of locals and visitors from around the Greater Austin area and beyond.

The festival is hosted by the city of Dripping Springs, as well as the Founders Day Commission, which includes representatives from different local organizations. The proceeds collected from the three-day event are contributed back to the community and benefit local nonprofit organizations, parks, churches, schools, youth groups and charities.

For more information about the Founders Day Festival, visit cityofdrippingsprings. com/founders-day.