Small towns are good at parades.
High school bands, firetrucks, grand marshals in antique cars, Shriners in funny hats motoring about in little ones, jolly old St. Nick and the like. Candy flies, an odd cannon blasts and a well-meaning costumed character inevitably makes a kid or two cry.
The words alone smell like a potpourri of cotton candy, barbeque and horses. It’s the kind of thing that makes you roll up your sleeves and, without thinking, ask if anyone needs some help.
Because you’re in. All the way in.
It’s a mix of Americana bliss that you can drink in on Main Streets across the Catskills year-round, but there is one community that casts its party line a little deeper than most during the month of June.
All in celebration of fish.
Trout, Livingston Manor and a parade, to be exact.
Where Mardis Gras Grows Gills
It’s a theme party. Once Upon a Trout, Trout on the Range and Saturday Trout Fever to name a few from the past. Exactly what it looks like in your imagination and everything that it doesn’t.
To tease that vision a bit more, picture Cirque du Soleil for fish. Because that is the high-flying, costume wearing, beautiful weirdness happening on Saturday, June 13 in Livingston Manor when this Sullivan County river town goes “Cirque du Trout.”
“This isn’t the kind of event where you just show up for the parade. It’s a full day experience where every element makes the other even more fun. It’s the fireman’s chicken barbeque and the vendor fair. It’s buying a lemonade from the high school junior class. And if you want a t-shirt or poster, you’ve got to get there early or they’re gone.”
– Maria Bivins, Parade Volunteer & Owner of Life Repurposed
Get Hooked
What: 20th Annual Livingston Manor Trout Parade
You really must see it to believe it. It’s a town-wide celebration like no other with Best Float and Best Costume awards, a vendor fair, live music and an after party that’s every bit as lively as the parade itself.
When Officially: Saturday, June 13, 2026
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Vendor Fair at Renaissance Park.
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Music on the Main Stage
1:00 p.m. – Trout Parade on Main Street
4:00 p.m. – After Party at Sunshine Colony
When Unofficially: Friday, June 12 – Sunday, June 14
Why: (the heck not) and to support local food pantries, plus the school’s award-winning music program.
How: A lot of community spirit & creativity. Seriously, this is THE event of the summer in Livingston Manor, swelling the small community of 1,000 to well over 2,000 on parade day.
Note: Main Street closes completely from 1 – 3 p.m., so plan parking accordingly
For the Love of Food & Music
Every community has Girl Scout Cookies, bake sales and soapy kids dancing on corners selling charity car washes. The Trout Parade is something entirely different.
This event, now 20 years of cannonballing into the deep end, grew from a spirit of cooperation that brought together the local school system, business and arts communities in support of its local food pantries and to raise funds for a beloved school music program. Why not through trout?
It’s a synergy that only happens in small towns like Livingston Manor where people truly know and care deeply about their neighbors. Both those who are new to the community and those who’ve been there all their lives, like Dan Smith, who graduated from the very school he now leads musically marching down Main Street.
What they play and what they wear is entirely up to the students. Dan’s job is to help them do it well and with the love of music.
“Livingston Manor has its fair share of formal events. The Trout Parade is not one of them. It’s a celebration of artistic expression that allows the community and the kids to work together to create an experience without walls.”
– Dan Smith, High School Band Teacher
Score Trout Row Seats
Local Meg McNeill has marched in the Trout Parade once or twice. She’s also co-owner of Sunshine Colony located on the parade route, so she knows a thing or two about taking in the full spectacle.
Meg’s Top 5 Need to Know Things for Crushing the Trout Parade
Thing 1: Trout Puppets
Don’t miss Willow Bea, a 15-foot-long puppet named after local trout streams and created over 20 years ago by the late Bud Bertheim, who worked with Muppet creator Jim Henson. Bea also has a lot of friends. More and more of them swimming down Main Street and into after parties every year.
WRITER NOTE: See Sidebar on Willow Bea below story
Thing 2: Catskill Crafts
It would be a BIG mistake to roll into town just for the parade. The vendor fair held at Renaissance Park (also where t-shirts and posters are sold) is a festival unto itself. Catskill crafters are known for all things unique, but there’s something about the Trout Parade that brings their home hewn skill up a grade.
Thing 3: Parade Beverages
Locals know the only place to watch the parade, and enjoy an adult beverage at the same time, is at Sunshine Colony. They also know that Sunshine hosts the after-party and stealthy Friday night pre-party. Now you do too.
Thing 4: Live Performances
The parade may be the main event, but like a good festival, the side stages will always reward and surprise. No, this is not Bonnaroo or Coachella. Nor should it be. Yet, the Trout Parade always delivers the sound with most bands anteing up in their own fishy Cirque du Soleil way.
Thing 5: CAS Kids
Catskill Art Space (CAS) in Livingston Manor hosts some of the most incredible rural arts programming for children on a year-round basis. Which is exactly why program director Sally Wright has been named the Grand Marshal for the 2026 Trout Parade. Marching with her will be her CAS Kids. All of them. Costume planning began long ago. They won’t miss a detail and neither should you.
“Everyone has a favorite holiday. Mine is the Trout Parade and everything that goes with it. No year is the same and it surprises and delights me every time.”
– Meg McNeill, Co-Owner of Sunshine Colony
Why Watch, When You Can Be in the Cast
Spring in the Catskills is all about possibility. It’s a time when everything shines a little brighter: leaves, flowers, smiles. Even the sun stays out longer. Everything stretches its cramped winter legs and lets loose.
It just so happens that the Trout Parade is the perfect reason to do a little more too. Drop a line in the Willowemoc or Beaverkill, take a hike, ride a bike. No one needs an excuse to dance, but it’s nice to use the extra motion as a reason to order dessert.
For Miriam Rayevsky, co-owner of Jitterbug, a record/art supplies/toys/games store opening a new location on Main Street in Livingston Manor, that means a post-parade road trip through Jeffersonville, Callicoon and into Parksville for a live music and art spectacle at New Memories followed by dinner at the Double Up.
Context: New Memories is a former two-story antique mall that spans a city block. Today, it’s a vibrant DIY artist hub where no day is like the day before. Especially on Trout Parade weekend. Next door is the Double Up restaurant, which of course, is inside a London double-decker bus.
“It’s all very much like a Fellini movie. The Trout Parade brings out the best of smalltown life in a showcase of the bizarre. I’ve participated in nine parades, and they always surprise and inspire me in the best ways.”
– Miriam Rayevsky, Parade Marcher & Co-Owner of Jitterbug
Dive, Don’t Wade, Into the Spirit of the Trout Parade
The Trout Parade is a participation event. Whether you sign up to build a float or snag a prime curbside spot first thing in the morning, it celebrates creativity and welcomes everyone in.
Your job is to get there. Book a room. Make it a weekend. Wear a costume. Get Cirque du Trout.
SIDEBAR: The Legend of Willow Bea
The very first Trout Parade, and every version since, has been led by a stunning 15-foot-long, trout puppet created by the late Earl “Bud” Wertheim. A charter member of the Puppetry Guild of N.Y., Bud co-hosted the 1963 Puppeteers of America Convention with Jim Henson and performed at the 1964 World’s Fair.
For years, locals called the puppet Bud in his honor, only to find out later that Bud called her Willow Bea as a nod to the fresh waters of the Willowemoc and Beaver Kill rivers that inspired the parade. Thus, the 2026 Trout Parade will be led by Bud’s Willow Bea.