Optimist Club of Jasper — 2026 Strassenfest Parade Information

2026 LIST OF WINNERS!

Details for Parade Entries for Sunday

Thank you for participating in this year’s Strassenfest Parade! We look forward to a day of fun, fellowship and family entertainment. The parade WILL go on, rain or shine 😊 Please reach out if you should you have any questions. Please see our cell numbers and emails listed in the signature below.

Keep in mind that your line up location is APPROXIMATE. We will be marking off the staging area Sunday morning, based on the lengths that you provided on your entry form. If there are any changes to your length, announcer script or anything about your entry, please call/email ASAP with any changes. Any changes after Wednesday, July 29, require a phone call, not an email.

NOTE TO SHRINE UNITS AND WITZ: Reminder that the parking lot that you had been using for years, has been removed, and grass has been planted. You will now be in the parking lot directly across 15th St, on the South side of 15th St.

Parade entries may begin arriving any time after 10:30 am on Sunday. ALL units must be in place by 12:30 Eastern Time. Keep in mind, if you have larger units, it is imperative that you get there early as parade traffic gets quite hectic the closer we get to the parade. Please do NOT wait until the last minute to try and pull in a 40ft trailer. Participants can arrive at 12:30, but please get your parade units in place early, especially if you have a trailer or any larger unit. Unit #’s 23 – 32 and 63 -72 will be lining up closer to SVB&T on 15th St, so I encourage you to get your vehicles in place early to avoid maneuvering through heavy traffic later in the staging process. Your participants do not need to be there that early, but having your unit, especially the larger ones, there early will help with traffic.

If you are staging in the SVB&T Lot or Jackson Street, you can enter off of Newton Street

If you are staging on 15th St or the Kimball parking lots, you must enter the parade staging area at 15th and Kellerville. If you are using GPS, please remember to follow the parade line up directional signs as you come into Jasper. You will not be able to line up on 15th St if you enter 15th St from the east (coming from Springs Valley Bank). You will be re-routed.

Please stop at a parade worker (wearing bright yellow shirts at 15th & Kellerville or 15th & Royal) and they will tell you exactly where your entry line up location is. When you arrive at your line up location, please tape the parade line up #’s to the front left and right of your parade entry (in the windshield if you have one). If you do not have tape, an Optimist Parade Official will be around to check you in, and they will have safe tape and masking tape. Details on how to get there are attached (Map of City doc), as well as some needed rules. Please share these rules and instructions with everyone participating in your unit. Please reach out if you have any questions! We look forward to a GREAT day of fun, but a reminder that this is family oriented, and alcohol is strictly forbidden in the staging area AND during the parade. If you are seen with alcohol, your unit will be ejected from the parade by the Jasper Police Dept. Rest assured, this has been carried out in the past, unfortunately.

Keep in mind that any vehicles, other than parade entries will not be allowed in the staging area after 11:30. To keep our participants and workers safe, the roads will be closed to anyone except parade traffic, and east bound traffic on 15th is completely forbidden. ALL parade traffic that is staging on 15th St MUST enter the staging area from the east side at 15th and Kellerville. Please see the attached document (Map of City) for details instructions. Those lining up on Jackson may enter from 231 & 17th St

Please see the attached document “map of line up areas” for the following:

Public Parking available in the Kimball International visitor parking
Shuttle Service locations: (noted in green) If participants are to be dropped off, we will have a courtesy shuttle service (golf carts) to your line up area. Participants can be dropped off at the shuttle stations at SVB&T at 15th & Main or Kimball Electronics at 15th & Kellerville. Please be patient, someone will come to get you at drop you at your spot…. Again, please do not wait until the last minute for this service.
Parade HQ (noted in red)
If you need space to set up your entry, add decorations etc, you are welcome to use the Kimball Solutions (Kimball Electronics) parking lot as a preparation area.
Port-O-Potties will be at the Kimball Electronics parking lot (by the shuttle service tent) and Parade HQ
UTV Helmet law (attached) will be enforced by JPD prior to and after the parade. It will be excused during, and ONLY DURING, the staging area & parade route, meaning from 15th Street & Jackson, down Jackson, around the square, back up Main St and ending at SVB&T. Any violation outside the official parade route will be at your own risk, and submission to fines from the JPD.

The official parade route will start at 15th and Jackson. The entries will go South on Jackson, right on 5th, right on Main St, around the Square on the west side, left on Main Street and ending at 15th & Main (at SVB&T)

At the end of the parade, do NOT stop at 15th & Main or in the next block to let participants off the float. Continue on to 16th St, turn right on 16th, right on Jackson, left onto 15th again) , and determine a meeting point in one of the Kimball International or Kimball Solutions (Electronics) parking lot. You will be going down the street on the wrong side of the road on 15th St, if parade entries are still processing down the staging area of 15th St

If you do not have participants to unload, you may continue on to 16th street or 17th Street and exit left to 231, or use the path above to exit to the east.

Hope this gives you all your answers you need!

‍ ‍Line Up Listing

Audrey Fischer & Jessie Dwyer

2026 Strassenfest Parade Co-Chairman

Optimist Club of Jasper – Sponsor

m: 812-630-6784 (Audrey)

m: 916-508-9553 (Jessie)

audrey.fischer@kimballinternational.com

jdwyerjem@gmail.com

The 48th Annual Jasper Strassenfest will be held July 30th to Aug 2nd, 2026.

This years theme is “Threads of History, Patterns of Progress. America’s 250th”. As a business or organization providing service to the community, we encourage you to participate in this year’s Strassenfest parade which will be held on Sunday, August 2, 2026, starting at 1:00 PM EST. Participants can begin lining up at 10:30, but need to be in place by 12:30. As one of the largest parades in Southwestern Indiana, with over 10,000 people in attendance, this is a tremendous means of promoting your business/organization or providing entertainment.

The entry fee of $50, if applicable, must be submitted separately to the address below. If you are submitting the entry past the deadline, there is an additional $20 late fee, regardless of whether you were required to pay the standard entry fee. If you are not advertising a business in any way, nor a political candidate, there is no fee. Note for political candidates: The $50 entrance fee is a per vehicle or candidate fee. When submitting the fee, you will need to include the PARADE ENTRY NAME and CONTACT NAME in the check memo as it is listed on the form you submitted to ensure that is matched up to the appropriate entry. The entry fee must be received by July 25, 2026 at the address below:

Optimist Club of Jasper

Attn: Parade

PO BOX 435

Jasper IN 47546-0435

Please complete the online entry form below, in its entirety, and submit by July 8, 2026 to avoid any late entry fees.

Entry Form

It is important that you describe your entry in detail in 50 words or less. This description is used to determine your actual position in the line-up, as well as by the announcer and TV/radio stations in covering your entry the day of the parade. Please give this special attention when completing your entry form. Also, pay particular attention to the section that asks for the length of your entry. This information is critical for allowing enough space for you in the parade line up. Failure to include lengths may result in your entry being moved to the back of the line up.

Any animal entries must provide your own waste disposal. You must have someone following your entry to ensure any waste is cleaned up immediately out of courtesy to those entries behind you. Failure to comply will result in the inability to participate in future parades.

ROUTE: The official start of the parade route is at 15th St and Jackson St. You will head South on Jackson, turn right on 5th St, turn right again on Main St and go around the square on the west side as we did in 2025. Staging will remain the same, mostly on 15th Street from Jackson to Kellerville Rd, with some on Jackson St and at Springs Valley Bank parking lot.

Due to space limitations and turning constraints, semi entries are PROHIBITED

Continuing to strive to save our natural resources, time and money, you will be receiving instructions with your parade position and specific line-up location via an e-mail provided by July 28. The line-up information will also be posted on the website: www.jasperstrassenfest.org If you do not have email or internet access, please note on your entry form, and we will send the info via postal mail. We encourage you to also incorporate the Strassenfest German theme and the theme of this year’s Strassenfest in your entry. Units will be judged with the following awards to be made:

Chairman’s award…business float that exhibits best overall excellence
Parade Marshall’s award.…non-business float that exhibits best overall excellence
Strassenfest award…best reinforcement of German theme
Heart Warming award…most “warm and fuzzy” feeling
Community award…most positive statement on the community.
Most Entertaining
Best Parade Giveaway

We hope you will take advantage of this excellent opportunity to present your organization to thousands of local residents and submit the signed entry form with complete information byJuly 8. Thank you!