Every summer there are dozens of small town festivals in Central Texas. They each have their quirks, but they all end up looking pretty much the same.
That’s not a bad thing. They’re always colorful, always full of character and the images are always full of classic Americana.
The parade is always the center of attention for each festival, and the whole town turns out to watch. Of course, that was the case with the Homecoming festival parade in Bastrop earlier this month. I was there for the Statesman.
The Homecoming festival doesn’t have much to do with high school reunions, though that seems to have worked it’s way in over the years. It actually started in 1947 after WWII, when the town started to die down after workers were no longer needed to support the war effort. The Homecoming Jubilee, as it was called then, invited all former residents who spent time in Bastrop during WWII to come back for a party. It was a hit and it became a town tradition.
When I arrived before the parade I walked Main St. looking for a good spot to camp out. I found a place where the buildings were picturesque in the background and there was a fairly big crowd. I was content with my placement, but then I saw people appear on a balcony. Hmm…
The balcony was above a bakery, so I stopped inside, hoping to get permission to shoot from upstairs. It turned out the balcony belonged to a private residence. I breathed in the wonderful bakery smell and went next door.
Up a staircase were four or five doors to apartments. I made a guess at which apartment the balcony belonged to and knocked on the door. It opened and a man appeared. All I had to say was, “Hi, I’m Ashley, I’m with the Statesman…” He said, “You want to take pictures? As long as you don’t mind climbing through the window.” I wish it was always that easy!
I climbed out to the balcony, which had about a dozen or so people on it, and shot the parade for a while before returning to the street. Even though the parade looked similar to all of the others, at least the perspective was different.
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