2023 Parade Application
The 2023 Maple Leaf Festival Parade will take place on October 21st, beginning at 9 a.m.!! Old traditions are new again. The parade is going to go back around the Square!! The parade will start on the corner of 4th and Main, Go Main down to 3rd, 3rd to Grant. It will then follow Grant down to Grand, Grand to Centennial, and over to River. We encourage visitors, both local and traveling, to line the parade route and join in the spirit of Maple Leaf as festive floats travel down the 1.7-mile route.
The Maple Leaf Festival TM began in 1966 as a marching band competition. Since then, volunteers have come together to organize an event to celebrate the beauty of the fall foliage of the maple-leaf trees. The City of Carthage, known as America’s Maple Leaf City, hosts one of the region’s biggest festivals, drawing over 65,000 visitors in October to pay homage to this historic festival.