Katy Celebrates Rice Festival with a Parade

By George Slaughter

Some children enjoying the Katy Rice Festival Parade. (photo by Terry Carter/UD Photos.com)

The Katy Rice Festival is set for next weekend, and held a parade Saturday to celebrate.

After seeing the 2020 festival be put exclusively online due to the pandemic, festival organizers and participants are looking forward to an in-person event this upcoming weekend.

The festival will continue to use the parking and shuttle setups as it has in the past. The shuttle service will transport festival-goers from the Leonard E. Merrell Center parking lot, 6301 S. Stadium Lane, to the festival.

On Friday, October 8, the event will be free, with live music and food trucks.

On Saturday, October 9, the event will from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. with full activities and all vendor booths open.

On Sunday, October 10, the event will run from 12 to 6 p.m., again with full activities and vendor booths open.

This is the 43rd year for the festival. The first festival, called a “Sellabration,” was held in 1978. Its purpose was to honor the local rice farmers and their contributions to the local economy.

The festival is the culmination of a year’s worth of planning and many volunteer hours. For many years, the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event, which was known as the Katy Rice Harvest Festival. In 2018, the City of Katy took over festival sponsorship and slightly changed the name.

For more information, including volunteer opportunities, visit the festival website.

Photographer Terry Carter took some pictures of Saturday’s parade.