It all started in 1938 with just 40 floats, four bands and a bicycle brigade.
Since then, the Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade has grown into an annual tradition that draws thousands to downtown Fort Myers to marvel at the elaborate floats and glittering royalty.
That tradition continues this Saturday, Feb. 15, for the 87th-annual Grand Parade. The parade — sometimes called the Grand Parade of Light — leaves Fort Myers High School at 7 p.m. Then it travels north on Cleveland Avenue and through the streets of downtown Fort Myers. For details about the parade and other Edison Fest events, visit tinyurl.com/mhsevztf.
Want to know more? Here are some illuminating facts about the parade, its long history and its namesake, inventor Thomas Edison.
Edison Festival of Light’s history: How it began
Dancers wore feathered Aztec headdresses and other traditional Mexican costumes as they performed Mexican folk dances during the 2024 Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade.
The Edison Festival of Light and its annual parade started in February 1938 as a way to honor Fort Myers’ most famous winter resident, Thomas Edison. Back then, it was called the Pageant of Light.
The three-day festival also featured a jalopy derby, a street carnival, a cracker-band contest and the coronation of a king and queen.
The origins of the parade date to 1885, when Lee County was incorporated and residents threw themselves a big party — complete with cowboys showing off their roping and riding skills. The winning cowboy got the privilege of choosing a young woman to be the “Queen of Love and Beauty.”
That earlier celebration eventually became the Sunshine Pageant in the 1920s. Then it transformed into the Pageant of Light in 1938 to honor Thomas Edison. The inventor had died seven years earlier.
Big parade, big crowds
A variety of marching bands performed and entertained the crowds along the route of the Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019, in Fort Myers.
The first Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade drew an estimated 12,000 spectators. It featured 40 floats, four bands and a bicycle brigade.
Now the festival draws an estimated 100,000-200,000 people every year, organizers say. There are usually more than 170 parade units, including about 50-55 floats and more than 15 marching bands.
The parade usually takes two to three hours to finish.
Let there be light
The Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade is considered to be one of the biggest night parades in the Southeastern United States. Most of the floats, band instruments and other parade units are illuminated with lights, glow sticks and anything else that glows, sparkles or shines.
The Grand Parade became a night parade in 1953 to honor Edison’s invention of the commercial light bulb. Floats were decorated with lights — a tradition that continues to this day.
Edison Fest’s grand parade marshals
Grand Marshal Nate Allen, of the Philadelphia Eagles, waves to the crowd as his sister, Kelsey Allen, 13, looks on during the Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011
Parade organizers shine a light on celebrities and notable Southwest Florida residents every year with their annual grand marshals and (sometimes) honorary marshals.
Past marshals have included golf champion Bobby Nichols, singing cowboy Roy Rogers, comedian Red Skelton, actor Jerry Van Dyke (Dick Van Dyke’s brother), tennis player Jimmy Connors, local Olympian Al Oerter, TV personality Willard Scott, football player Johnny Unitas and Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Bert Blyleven.
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Popular sights at the Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade
The Araba Shriners drive a Flintstones cars and other tiny vehicles every year in the Edison Fest Grand Parade.
There’s a lot to see every year at the Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade: A giant lightbulb balloon wearing sunglasses. Fire engines with red lights flashing. More than a dozen high school marching bands. And one colorful, illuminated float after another.
Other popular highlights include antique military vehicles and police cars, FPL line workers in hard hats and yellow vests, lots of Lee County Sheriff’s Office vehicles (including drones floating along the parade route) and a group of about 200 people walking or doing Mexican folk dances in feathered Aztec headdresses and other traditional Mexican costumes.
The Araba Shriners are always a big hit with parade watchers, too. The Fort Myers organization drives a fleet of miniature Ford Model T replicas called Tin Lizzies and Flintstones cars driven by Shriners in Flintstones costumes. Plus, there are full-sized Jeeps and several golf carts driven by Shriners dressed as clowns.
Fort Myers royalty: The king and queen of Edisonia
Every year, members of the Pageant of Light and the Fort Myers Woman’s Community Club choose a new king and queen to reign over the Edison Festival of Light and the made-up kingdom of “Edisonia.” The new monarchs — along with the rest of the royal court — wave and smile from their float during the parade.
The Pageant of Light isn’t the same thing as the Edison Festival of Light. The Festival of Light is a nonprofit that organizes the parade and other events. The private Pageant of Light crowns the Royal Court of Edisonia every year.
The first king and queen of Edisonia were chosen in 1938: James E. Hendry III and Virginia Sheppard. They were crowned Feb. 11. “It was the biggest thrill I’ve ever had,” Sheppard, now deceased, told The News-Press in 1988. “More than getting married.”
Royal Court of Edisonia applicants must be Lee County residents, unmarried and 19 to 24 years old.
The path to king and queen is a complicated process. The royals start out as dukes and duchesses. The next year, they become princes and princesses and compete to become king and queen of the mythical land of Edisonia.
The king and queen are crowned in February and appear on a float in the Grand Parade the next day.
The parade’s namesake: Inventor Thomas Edison
Inventor Thomas Edison poses in 1929 with a replica of his first successful incandescent lamp. The photo was taken during an anniversary banquet in his honor in Orange, New Jersey.
The parade’s famous namesake, inventor Thomas Edison, had more than 1,000 U.S. patents for his inventions, including the first commercial light bulb, a universal stock ticker, the phonograph and the motion picture camera.
Edison moved to Fort Myers in 1885 as a winter resident. His friend — legendary carmaker Henry Ford — eventually bought a house next door in 1916. Their homes are now a popular museum and tourist attraction, The Edison & Ford Winter Estates.
Edison died Oct. 18, 1931, in West Orange, New Jersey. He was 84 years old.
For the record: Edison didn’t consider the commercial light bulb to be his greatest invention. He preferred the phonograph.
More about the royal ‘jewels,’ scepters and robes
The 1968 coronation of King Fredrick Morgan and Queen Kay Holloway, daughter of the first Queen of Edisonia, Virginia Sheppard Holloway by New Jersey governor Charles Edison. Edisonia’s Lord Chamberlain, the late novelist Richard P. Powell, oversees the crowning.
The king and queen of Edisonia wear crowns and scepters purchased from two companies in New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, that specialize in Mardi Gras costumes.
The king’s crown is covered with about 500 crystals and is filled out with green velvet. It weighs about 5 pounds.
The queen’s crown and matching scepter cost about $1,000. The crown stands about 5 inches tall and features Swarovski crystals and a silver finish.
The King and Queen of Edisonia wear green-velvet robes decorated with gold and silver sequins in the patterns of a crown and the letter “E” for Edison. The edges are lined with rabbit fur. The tails are made of ermine.
The queen’s robe is about 13 feet long. The king’s is about 10 feet. A sheet of plastic is sewn to the inside of the robes so they slide easily across the floor when the royal pair walk.
The Edison Fest Grand Parade: (Almost) an annual tradition since 1938
The Edison Festival of Light has taken place every year since 1938, with only a couple of obvious exceptions.
The Festival of Light and its parade were postponed from 1942-1945 because of World War II. They returned in 1946.
They’ve been held every year since then except for 2021, when the grand parade and junior parade were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other, smaller Edison Fest events still happened that year, though.
Other Edison Fest events
Members of the Dunbar High School Marching Band participate in The Edison Festival of Light Grand Parade in downtown Fort Myers on Saturday Feb. 15, 2020.
The original Festival of Light started as a three-day event. Now the festival features many activities spread across two weeks every February.
A children’s coronation and baby parade (now called the Edison Festival of Light Junior Parade) were added to the festival in 1946.
In a nod to Thomas Edison, a Young Inventor’s Fair joined the festival in 1986 to let local school children show off their own inventions and creations. Now there are two science-based fairs: The Edison Festival of Light Regional Inventors Fair and the Thomas Alva Edison Kiwanis Science & Engineering Fair.
Other fest events include car shows, foot races, Mrs. Edison’s Hymn Sing (a nod to Thomas Edison’s wife, Mina Edison), a craft show and more.
Learn more about The Edison Festival of Light and its many events at edisonfestival.org, facebook.com/EdisonFestival or instagram.com/edisonfestival.
Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at [email protected] or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1). You can also call at 239-335-0368.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: What is Edison Fest Grand Parade?: All about the Fort Myers tradition
