Harvest of Harmony

Join us October 3, 2026!

Registration is open!

Registration closes Sept. 4th!

Sponsorship Opportunities

Celebrate the season with the largest parades on record! Over 90 bands and 80 float entries from across the state of Nebraska march in this parade. This event draws over 15,000 attendees. GIAEDC & Chamber of Commerce broadcast live from Tourism Downtown Grand Island. The broadcast extends to an audience of more than 35,000.

Please contact Jessica to be a sponsor.

2025 Harvest of Harmony Float Awards

Grand Marshal's Choice - The Grand Theater

Spirt Award - GI Special Olympics

Civic 1st Place - Building Blocks Foster Care
Civic 2nd Place - EPIC Discovery Center
Civic 3rd Place - CHI Health St. Francis

Business 1st Place - McCain Foods
Business 2nd Place - The Grand Theater
Business 3rd Place - Double V

Photos: Josh Salmon

2025 Harvest of Harmony Parade Awards

Best Overall - Kearney High School
Best Class A-B Band - Aurora High School
Best Class C-D Band - Fullerton Public Schools

Class AA 1st Place - Kearney High School
Class AA 2nd Place - Grand Island Senior High School
Class AA 3rd Place - Hastings Senior High School

Class A 1st Place - Grand Island Northwest
Class A 2nd Place - Crete High School
Class A 3rd Place - McCook Senior High School

Class B 1st Place - Aurora High School
Class B 2nd Place - Holdrege High School
Class B 3rd Place - Minden High School

Class C 1st Place - Alma Public Schools
Class C 2nd Place - Amherst Public Schools
Class C 3rd Place - Heartland Community
Class C 4th Place - Ravenna High School

Class D 1st Place - Fullerton Public Schools
Class D 2nd Place - Palmer Public Schools
Class D 3rd Place - Osmond Community Schools
Class D 4th Place - McCool Junction Public Schools

2025 Harvest of Harmony Field Competition Awards

Superior

Kearney High School

Grand Island Senior High

Norfolk High School

Lincoln High School

Lincoln Northeast High School

Northwest Highschool

Seward High School

Aurora High School

Excellent

North Platte High School

Lincoln Northwest High School

York High School

Holdrege High School

Minden High School

Central City High School

Kearney Catholic High School

Adams Central High School

Cozad High School

Good

Lakeview Community School

Lincoln Lutheran Middle School & High School

The History of Harvest of Harmony

The parade's roots start back in 1938 when Chamber members decided to organize an event to promote goodwill among the area small towns. That first parade, initially named the Central Nebraska Music Festival, was a rousing success with eight bands and 13 floats. An estimated 10,000 people were watching from the streets of Grand Island.

Just as the event was getting started, World War II began. The parade ceased in 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945, due to gas rationing. Once the war ended, the parade resumed in 1946 with a new name, Harvest of Harmony, and added the Miss Harvest of Harmony Pageant.

Over the years, Harvest of Harmony has grown into one of Nebraska's largest events. The culmination of the parade's popularity was evident in 1996 as Harvest of Harmony broke an existing record and claimed a spot in the Guinness Book of Records as "highest number of bands marching in a parade" with 130 bands.

As for those original eight bands that began in 1938… they've been back each and every year.

HARVEST OF HARMONY TODAY...

The Harvest of Harmony is coordinated by the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce with the help of the Harvest of Harmony committee. Each year, the committee meets monthly starting in March to begin planning for the parade.

The Harvest of Harmony committee selects a theme meant to represent Grand Island and the current development taking place in the community.

A grand marshal (or more than one) is also selected by the committee, sometimes in relation to the selected theme.

THE THEMES

1973 —	When You Wish Upon a Star	2002 —	Honoring Everyday Heroes
1974 —	Nebraskaland...Visions of Tomorrow	2003 —	Thanks for the Memories, 10/11
1975 —	Say It With Music	2004 —	ACTS OF KINDNESS---“Serving Others in the Heartland”
1978 —	A Tribute to Big Brass Bands and Barnam & Bailey	2005 —	Uniquely Nebraskan – Celebrating People, Places & Events
1979 —	It’s a Small, Small World	2006 —	Mardi Gras – “Isle de Grande” -65th year
1980 —	United We Can, Together We Stand	2007 —	Celebration of 150 years of Hall County Settlement “Reflecting Back... Looking Forward”
1981 —	Reflection of the Golden Years	2008 —	Festivals, Family and Fun!
1982 —	The All AmericaCity	2009 —	A World of Harmony and Happiness
1983 —	Shine on Harvest Moon-Salute to Ag	2010 —	Harvest of Pride- Saluting Nebraska’s Men, Women, and Families of the Armed Services
1984 —	Music-The International Voice	2011 —	Celebrating Agriculture in the Heartland
1985 —	Merry Go Rounds and Clowns	2012 —	Soaring through the Heartland –Choppers, Planes and Cranes
1986 —	Nebraska, We’ve Got the Spirit	2013 —	Nebraska’s Youth – Our Shining Stars
1987 —	Our Friends, the Animals	2014 —	From Pages to Parade… Making Characters Come Alive
1988 —	Looking Up, Feeling Great, Celebrate ‘88	2015 —	Superhero Adventures…What’s Your Superpower?
1989 —	We the People	2016 —	Our Diamond Jubilee – An Illustrious Past and A Bright Future
1990 —	A Melody to Remember	2017 —	Nebraska! Let’s Celebrate 150 Years!
1991 —	50 Years of Harmony	2018 —	There’s No Place Like Space
1992 —	125 Ways to Love Nebraska	2019 —	Building Dreams, Friendships and Memories!
1993 —	Ethnic Cultures on Parade	2020 —	**No parade held due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
1994 —	Nebraska’s Youth, the Future	2021 —	We Are All Superheroes
1995 —	Freedom on Parade	2022 —	Marching through the Decades
1996 —	The Spirit of Grand Island	2023 —	Celebration of Sound
1997 —	Masquerade on Parade	2024 —	Exciting World of Sounds
1998 —	Big Red Marches On	2025 —	Sounds of the Island
1999 —	A Parade of Years Past	2026 —
2000 —	A Tour of the Heartland
2001 —	Hobbies...the Spice of Life

THE ALUMNI BAND

THE HIGH SCHOOL BANDS

The stars of the Harvest of Harmony parade are other bands from high schools all across Nebraska that travel to Grand Island to participate on the first Saturday in October.

Harvest of Harmony is a Nebraska State Athletic Association sanctioned parade and field competition.

Many high school bands view the Harvest of Harmony as a great practice for their state competitions or just a fun experience to perform in front of thousands of cheering spectators.

Each year, the Harvest of Harmony Committee selects judges for the field and parade competition.

THE FLOATS

Area communities, businesses, clubs, service organizations and individuals can participate by entering a decorated float relating to the parade theme. These groups have the option between three different floats: walking units, a single vehicle or towed decorated floats.

On Friday before the parade, judges view the participating floats and award prizes in the civic, school, children, and business categories. An additional award includes the Marshal's Choice.

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Click here to sign up for the Harvest of Harmony mailing list.

For many years, the Harvest of Harmony Parade has been broadcast live by local television
stations. This has been a unique and added bonus for participating bands, floats, and dignitaries.
Unfortunately, we were advised in 2021 by NTV that they are not able to broadcast the
Parade due to copyright and synchronization laws that have been brought to the forefront.

The Harvest of Harmony committee will continue to explore other options that allow
individuals from across the state, country, and world to view the parade 'live.'

Please contact Jessica with any questions or concerns.

Harvest of Harmony

Sponsorship Opportunities

The History of Harvest of Harmony

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