Lemont Keepataw Day Parade Will Make Triumphant 2021 Return

The Lemont Keepataw Day Parade is making a triumphant return this year on Sunday, September 5, 2021, at 2 pm, during Labor Day weekend. The event is being coordinated by the Lemont Keepataw Day Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) arts, culture, and humanities organization made up of local community members.

The theme of this year’s parade is Hometown Heroes to acknowledge and honor the educators, school personnel, healthcare workers, and first responders, among many others, who supported our communities tirelessly during the pandemic.

Named in honor of Potawatomi Chief Keepataw, whose nomad tribe settled in the region near what is now Lemont, the event began as a downtown Lemont festival in 1950, eventually adding a parade. Lemont was originally named Keepataw and changed its name over the years to Athens, and then to Palmyra before becoming Lemont in 1850.

This year’s event will be the 69th Keepataw Day Parade in Lemont’s history. The parade did not take place in 2018 and 2019 due to a lack of funding and volunteers, or in 2020 due to the pandemic. The foundation has been successful in gaining support for organizing a parade for 2021, and is open to the idea of a festival in the future, depending on community interest.

The parade will feature the Lemont Police and Fire Departments, the Lemont Lions Club, Lemont Knights of Columbus Council #1599, Lemont VFW Post 5819, the Shriners, the Lemont High School Marching Band and Color Guard, Happy Hands Preschool, Pawlak Properties, the Legacy Horse Ranch, Magical Marketing, Events by Kimberly, The Forge: Lemont Quarries, the Lemont Park District, Lemont Girl Scouts Service Unit 724, and many more.

Local community members, organizations, and businesses are invited to participate. If your group would like to walk in the parade or create a parade float, visit this page of the Lemont Keepataw Parade website: https://www.keepatawparade.com/sign-up.html

If your business would like to sponsor the parade and be acknowledged on the website, in social media, and on the parade day, visit this page of the website: https://www.keepatawparade.com/sponsorships.html

To see who has already offered their sponsorship visit https://www.keepatawparade.com/2021-sponsors.html

Parade organizers are also looking for volunteers to help on the day of the event. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please follow this link: https://www.keepatawparade.com/volunteer.html

For more information, visit https://www.keepatawparade.com/