Holy cow! Time for the Jefferson County Dairy Parade!

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - Make way for the Jefferson County Dairy Parade. It’s back again this Friday.

“It’s going to be fantastic,” Jefferson County agriculture coordinator Jay Matteson said. “We have over 50 entries already, eight high school bands, we have Downbeat Percussion, the official drumline of the Buffalo Bills. We love having them.”

And in the spirit of dairy, ice cream will be handed out during the parade.

“It’s a tradition here in Jefferson County to celebrate our ag industry, especially the dairy industry,” Matteson said. “Ag is a $1.7 billion industry here in northern New York – it’s as big as Fort Drum. So, this parade is to bring people out and see all the things that ag has to offer -- to see the big equipment, to see the animals, to see the kids, to see the dairy princess.”

For the princesses, it will be a final hurrah to tradition as they’ve known it.

“This parade is pretty special because this is the last year we will have a Jefferson County dairy princess in the parade,” Matteson said. “They’re changing the program statewide to dairy ambassadors, modernizing it a little, adding a more professional flair, and it’ll be boys and girls, so they’re trying to make it more co-ed than it has been in the past. The theme for the parade is to honor the tradition of the dairy princess. The one neat thing we’re doing is we’ve invited any past dairy princesses or members of the court to join us in the parade.”

Waving goodbye to the courts and crowns but waving hello to the future of dairy ambassadors.

The parade starts at 7 p.m. at Watertown High School on Washington Street.

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