Did you know that Frankenmuth’s Bavarian Festival has been voted one of the “Top 5 Festivals in the State of Michigan” by AAA’s Michigan Living Magazine?! While the Frankenmuth tradition started officially in 1959, it wasn’t until two years later, in1961, that the first Bavarian parade was initiated. Remarkably, Bronner’s has preserved their history of Bavarian parade floats every year and we’re sharing the album!
A Little About Frankenmuth’s Bavarian Festival Celebration —
Just how did the Frankenmuth Festival receive such notoriety?! It’s because Frankenmuth’s Bavarian Festival is Michigan’s largest celebration of Bavarian Heritage!
Each year, thousands of people flock to Michigan’s “Little Bavaria” for the affair to enjoy the celebration of German Heritage in a myriad of ways! Listen to Bavarian music played by authentically dressed German bands and watch in amazement as schuhplattler dancers pity-pat their way into your memories forever! The tradition of Maypole dancers lives on and German fare — including imported and domestic beer, will delight the discerning palate.
But it’s the annual Sunday Bavarian Festival Parade, usually featuring over 100 entries, that’s truly show-stopping! In Frankenmuth tradition, the Bavarian parade features:
- Marching Bands
- Decorated Parade Floats
- Dance Clubs
- Visiting Dignitaries
- Entertainers and
- The Newly Crowned Bavarian Princess and her Court
DID YOU KNOW: This honor was bestowed upon Wally & Irene’s daughter, Carla, in 1974, pictured above, right.
As a result of Wally’s knack for the creative arts, Bronner’s has a rich history in the celebration, too!
Wally Bronner – Signtist & Parade Float Designer, Extraordinaire!
Before he became widely known as “Mr. Christmas,” Wally Bronner enjoyed the title of “signtist” (also known as a “signtologist”) which is a catchword coined by sign painters of the time used to describe their craft. That background in sign painting and window and booth displays made the addition of designing parade floats a natural extension for the young entrepreneur!
Bronner’s Bavarian Festival Parade Floats Through The Years …
Though 1959 marks the initiation of Frankenmuth’s Bavarian Festival, the first Bavarian parade was held in 1961. And by that time, Wally had plenty of experience in creating innovating float designs.
Remarkably, each parade float since that time was preserved through the art of photography.
Read more on Frankenmuth’s Bavarian Festival.
And as a result, we invite you to take a historical look through Bronner’s archives of Bavarian Festival Parade floats through the decades!
Browse our parade float archival album at your own pace:
Seeing decades worth of amazing floats, I couldn’t help but wonder, as you might, just how does Bronner’s do it?!
The answer, of course, is that Bronner’s has a talented team of passionate people who piece together their different gifts. From designers to product specialists to carpenters, they work to transform an ordinary trailer – not just into a float for the annual Frankenmuth Bavarian Festival Parade – but into a fun photo op for our many guests in the summer and fall months.
We loved this Boomerang from Instagram foodie and traveler, Nicole!
Or this impromptu pose shared on Instagram from Se Yun Jo (see right.)
Have your own photo? We’d love to see your snaps! Tag @BronnersChristmas on Facebook and Instagram, or @BronnersXmas on X,
Parade Float Design 101
But I have to say, in researching for this post, I truly enjoy discovering all the history in Bronner’s parade floats as Bronner’s ornament artist, and veteran, Connie Larsen shows me the evolution of the float-building process!
What I hadn’t ever seen before writing this post was what that creative genius looks like inside Wally Bronner’s brain firsthand! Larsen has been with Bronner’s since 1972 and was one of our early float designers. She even featured as “Der Weinachts Engel,” the “Christmas angel,” on our 1973 float! Connie brought me a file of hand-drawn sketches from Wally’s 1981 Hummel parade float design! To hold them in my hands and see his notes … it was just so cool.
Floats in early parade days employed many of the techniques Wally acquired young, like using hand-painted elements. Incredibly, some of these pieces are still on display in our storeroom today! This extraordinary 1978 painting from Bronner’s artist Frank Fulco is on display in our nativities area in section 6! (Find other inspiring artifacts in Bronner’s Scavenger Hunt.)
Though large-scale pieces were featured in past, alongside more traditional float-making techniques, Bronner’s has placed a heavier focus in recent years on showcasing the diverse range of products available through our commercial division!
A Q&A With Designers Of Bronner’s Parade Floats
I asked, early designer, Connie Larsen and Kevin Maurer from Bronner’s commercial department, who now heads the design team, a few questions about our floats. Here’s what they had to share:
Q| (The parade has a theme every year, but) How do you come up with ideas?
CONNIE A| The ideas were usually driven by the parade theme…sometimes Wally had a specific concept in mind and we engineered it, other times I would offer several different possibilities.
KEVIN A| We receive the theme from the Bavarian Festival committee and then try to tie that theme in with Christmas. The float is parked out front for 6 months and customers take a lot of pictures with it. Therefore, a Christmas slant is more important than a total tie into the Bavarian Festival Parade theme. We’ve added the snow machines, too, and this has been very popular along the parade route.
Q| What do you enjoy most about the process?
CONNIE A| I enjoyed working with the carpenters and float construction teams over the years…I would sometimes build scale models for complicated structures and they would always find a way to make it work.
KEVIN A| Creating a float that ties into the theme but also gives customers an idea of what they can do with our products.
Q| Are there any challenges?
CONNIE A| Lots of challenges…it’s basically a moving display which carries people, and it has to withstand being outside summer through fall…a lot can go wrong.
KEVIN A| Using elements that will hold up outdoors for 6 months! We’d love to have snow (on the float), but there isn’t a product out there so we have to try and make something.
Q| Which is your favorite design? Why?
CONNIE A| My favorite design was the rooftop Santa and reindeer team in 2005…I had drawn the idea back in 1998, but Wally wanted to go in another direction. It was nice to see it happen seven years later.
KEVIN A| I really liked the float last year (2016) because we’ve never done anything with that color scheme and the gingerbread.
Do you have a favorite float from Bronner’s Parade Float album? Let us know in the comments below!
Share Your Snaps!
Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Mich., invites you to have your photo taken with our parade float outside of Bronner’s south entrance while it is on display.
Please share your photos with us on social by tagging @BronnersChristmas on Facebook and Instagram, or @BronnersXmas on Twitter!