The Azalea Festival Parade

Hundreds of people were in Downtown Wilmington Saturday morning enjoying the Azalea Festival Parade.

People came from across the country to see what the Azalea Parade was all about. A couple from Michigan came to Wilmington to check out the festival and say they love the southern flavor, but many of the kids loved the clowns.

Azalea Parade clown Willy said, “This makes my 44th year since 1964 and the crowd gets bigger ,everybody gets happy.”

District Attorney Ben David also took the time to relax and take in all the music and entertainment. He said, “This is the best part of the job right here. It’s a good way to relax and just enjoy the best part of the community which we do every year.”

Besides clowns, crowns and floats people also had a chance to see some of their favorite celebrities like Lee Norris from “One Tree Hill” and Kevin Frazier from “Entertainment Tonight” who dressed to impress for the occasion.

The big finale of the parade was the float with the Azalea Festival Queen, Barbara Woods and her court. Woods said, “It’s unbelievable — tears, tears cue the tears, right? No it’s really amazing, I really want to find any reason to stay here in Wilmington and raise my kids here.”