Downtown parade kicks off Spring Weekend
A parade float passes in downtown Rochester during Spring Weekend. The exact year of this picture is unknown.
RIT’s Spring Weekend was an annual celebration that began around 1950 and was easily the biggest social event of the school year.
The event was held near RIT’s downtown campus and was once described as “RIT’s Mardi Gras” by Reporter magazine. Festivities were kicked off with a large parade through Rochester that was followed by a carnival, a formal dance and a concert. Each year, a different theme was chosen for the weekend.
In 1951, the Spring Weekend theme was “Springtime Along the Mississippi.” A World’s Fair-themed carnival featured booths representing countries all over the world, including Argentina, Ireland, Russia and India.
The following day, more than 1,000 couples danced to the jazzy rhythms of Count Basie in the Columbus Civic Center.
When RIT relocated its campus to Henrietta in 1968, Spring Weekend disappeared. However, the celebration’s spirit lives on in the present day through SpringFest.
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