September 2022 – The Bristol Mum Festival

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022
2022 Mum Parade Winners

BRISTOL — The streets of downtown Bristol were awash in “Flower Power” on Sunday, as the
annual Bristol Mum Festival Parade stepped off for its 60th annual edition. Local schools, churches, clubs, businesses, and more were invited to craft floats in line with the parade theme, “Celebrating 60 Years of Flower Power.” Among the groups that took the theme to heart were Ivy Drive School, which was presented with the Parade Chairperson’s Best Use of Theme Award for their float; St. Matthew School, which was honored with the Best Live Flowers award; and Wojtusik Nursery and Christmas Shop, which won the award for Best Business float, given each year in memory of Sheila Kelley. This year, more than 60 units participated in the parade, and 21 of those groups crafted floats.

“It was truly an epic 60th year for the festival, and the parade,” said Mum Festival Chairman Jack Ferraro. “And the weather held off for the parade – just a few refreshing drops of rain.”

Other parade units of note included this years Hometown Heroes, the city’s Vietnam Veterans.
Parade Marshal was Taylor Kinzler, host of NBC Connecticut’s lifestyle show, CT Live! And the
Connecticut Patriots Fife & Drum Corps took home top performance honors, earning itself the
Best Overall Award, selected by independent expert parade performance judges and given in
memory of longtime parade organizer Bob Bailey. The city’s two public high schools’ marching bands combined forces to lead off the parade, followed by their individual cheerleading squads. Each set of cheerleaders put on a strong performance at the reviewing stand, with Bristol Eastern’s group taking the first-place Non Musical award and Bristol Central’s coming in second in the category. Once again, this year’s parade route took marching units on a slightly shorter route than usual, allowing marchers to proceed up Main Street, where the reviewing stand was positioned and where a crew from Nutmeg TV filmed the parade for an upcoming airing.

The Bristol Mum Parade is produced and directed by the Bristol Exchange Club. Awards for the 60th annual Mum Festival Parade were given in the following categories for floats and performances:
MARCHING AWARDS
Best Overall Award, Given in Memory of Robert Bailey: Connecticut Patriots Fife & Drum Corps
First Place, High School Band: Torrington High School
Second Place, High School Band: Combined Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern High Schools
Third Place, High School Band: Terryville High School
First Place, Non Musical: Bristol Eastern High School Cheerleaders
Second Place, Non Musical: Bristol Central High School Cheerleaders
First Place, Dance Group: Dance Arts Centre
Second Place, Dance Group: Get Up N Dance
Third Place, Dance Group: The Dance Project

FLOAT AWARDS
Mum Festival Chairperson’s Award: Lights on Rosewood
Hometown Heroes’ Choice Award: West Bristol School
Mayor’s Award: Edgewood School
Parade Chairperson Award, Best Use of Festival Theme (“60 Years of Flower Power”): Ivy Drive School
Best Live Flowers: St. Matthew School
Best Business Entry, Given in Memory of Sheila Kelley: Wojtusik Nursery Garden Center & Christmas Shop
Second Place, Best Business: Flips Gymnastics
First Place, Best Youth: Hubbell School
Second Place, Best Youth: West Bristol School
Third Place, Best Youth: Ivy Drive School
Fourth Place, Best Youth: Bristol Girls Little League Softball
First Place, Best Community: Bridge Community Church
Second Place, Best Community: Light Up Bristol
Third Place, Best Community: Riverside Baptist Church