Puyallup School District students, including newly crowned Daffodil Festival Queen Marissa Modestowicz, will appear in the 81^st Annual Daffodil Festival Grand Floral Parade on Saturday, April 5.

Modestowicz, a senior at Emerald Ridge High School, will preside over the parade on the Royal Daffodil Court float. She was crowned queen March 7 during the annual Daffodil Festival Queen's Coronation ceremony in Tacoma.

Joining her on the float will be 24 princesses from throughout Pierce County high schools. Puyallup School District princesses include Sydney Brown of Rogers High, Kimberly White of Puyallup High, and Kiasa Sims of Emerald Ridge High.

Junior high and high school bands from each of the district’s three regional learning communities will also join the parade lineup in Puyallup. The district decided to combine the bands by region this year because the parade is being held during Spring Break.

The Rogers High School JROTC and dance team are also among the more than 125 parade entries in Puyallup, including marching bands, dignitaries, equestrian units, and floats decorated with thousands of fresh-cut daffodils.

The parade starts in Tacoma at 10:15 a.m. and moves through Puyallup beginning at 12:45 p.m. at the intersection of 7th Avenue Southwest and 5th Street Southwest. It also travels through Sumner at 2:30 p.m. and Orting at 5 p.m.

In Puyallup, the parade moves east on 7th Avenue Southwest to Meridian Street, where it turns the corner and heads north to Meeker Avenue West. The route then moves west to 3rd Street Southwest, south to 4th Ave. Southwest, and west to the finish at 5th Street Southwest. View Puyallup parade route maps.

The theme for the 2014 Parade is "Ready, Set, Grow!"

To see this year’s parade lineup, visit the Daffodil Festival website at thedaffodilfestival.org.

Photo of 2014 Daffodil Queen Marissa Modestowicz courtesy of the Daffodil Festival