Colony Days

On the morning of Saturday, October 17, 2026, the 52nd Colony Days parade forms up behind the Administration Building on Lewis Avenue in Atascadero. At 10 a.m. it crosses the Arch Bridge and follows Lewis where the street becomes Capistrano Avenue. Near CA-41 it turns northwest onto El Camino Real, then swings right onto Entrada or West Mall and finishes near Lewis Avenue. The Colony Days Committee and the Fall Festival’s parade page both give 10 a.m. as the start. A general notice elsewhere on the festival’s site says 9. The 2026 theme is “Wild About Atascadero!”, and the committee says it is meant to show the area’s natural beauty and wildlife.

The line holds floats from businesses and government offices and floats from clubs and nonprofits. Walking groups, marching bands, families, musical acts, vintage cars and fire trucks, and riders alone or in groups fill it out. As each entry passes, an announcer reads a short description supplied by its makers. By the rules nothing is thrown or handed out along the route. Since the El Camino Real redesign of 2025, entries have been held to 20 feet. Cash prizes go to the best theme entry, the most humorous entry and the marching bands, and the top honor is the Maggie Rice Vandergon Sweepstakes Award. In 2024 Escuela del Rio took the Sweepstakes, and the AHS Marching Band won its class. Lemos Feed and Pet Supply placed first and second among motorized entries. Tim Booth and the Wild Wine Bike came second among families and individuals. Among animal entries, the Moving & Shaking Minis finished ahead of the SLO Sheriff’s Posse.

From 9 to 11 a.m., local businesses and vendors downtown and around the Sunken Gardens serve breakfast to the crowd.

Fall Fest in the Sunken Gardens

When the last entry has passed, the 6th annual Atascadero Fall Festival takes over the Sunken Gardens at 6505 El Camino Real and the downtown blocks around it. The festival runs October 16 through 18, 2026, with free admission. It has carnival rides and games, merchant and food vendors, and local craft beer, seltzer, wine and cocktails. More than 40 bands play on two stages. On Saturday from noon to 3:30 p.m., Suds at Sunken Gardens pours from ten or more breweries, cideries and seltzer makers. The festival site puts the parade awards at 12:30 p.m. on the Holiday Inn Express Stage, and the committee’s schedule says 12:00 or 12:30. The festival is produced by En Fuego Events and names the Central Coast Zoo Foundation as its nonprofit partner. A paid lot at 6305 Capistrano Avenue charges $10 for the day, and the money goes to the Atascadero Historical Society. Atascadero’s visitor bureau invites guests to “experience life the way it used to be during the early days of the Colony of Atascadero!”

The week leading up to the parade has its own events. The Quota of Atascadero Colony Days Tea meets at Atascadero Bible Church on Sunday, October 11, at 2 p.m. The Colony Days Mixer follows on Thursday, October 15, inside the Atascadero Chamber’s Oktoberfest in the Zoo Gardens at the Central Coast Zoo in Atascadero Lakeside Park. The wiener dog and small dog races and the pet costume contest that once ran beside the festival are listed as postponed. So is the Tent City After Dark concert.

Maggie Vandergon’s parade

Colony Days began in 1973 as a celebration of the community of Atascadero. A 2024 committee announcement says it commemorates the town’s founding and history. The first year had no parade. The first one rolled down El Camino in 1974, and there has been a parade every year since.

The founder was Maggie Vandergon. In 2021, at 94, she told KPRL radio she was not surprised by how popular the event had become. “I grew up on a ranch northeast of San Miguel,” she said. “I have been part of Pioneer Days for decades. I thought Atascadero needed an event to bring the community together.” The committee’s roll names her the first Grand Marshal. The earliest King and Queen on the list are Dave Cowan and Ida L. Moore.

The route has moved over the years. In 2021 the parade started at Davis Body Shop and rolled north to the Sunken Gardens, past eight announcer stands along El Camino Real. The present route, starting behind the Administration Building, was new in 2024.

Floats, kings and themes

Since 1974 float-building has been the center of the parade. Each year has a theme. In 1982 it was “America, Land of Many Heritages” and in 1989 “Alice in Wonderland.” The theme was “Say it with a Song” in both 1990 and 1991, followed by “Television Favorites of Yesteryear” in 1992. Later years brought “Buggies to Hot Rods” in 2004, “Hillbilly Hoedown” in 2008, “Get Your Funny On!” in 2010 and “Mudhole Follies” in 2018. In 2020 the theme was “Look How Far We’ve Come: 100 Years of Women’s Rights, Arts & Literacy.”

Frank Sanchez, the 2016 Colony Days King, built Sweepstakes winners. In 2015 he sent the committee a photograph and wrote: “Here is a picture of one of my Colony Days Sweepstakes Winner floats titled ‘Sunday at the Sunken Gardens.’ I was Executive Vice President of Atascadero Guarantee Savings and Loan Association and left in 1978...I had the office staff and their families decorate and ride on the float. This photo was taken during the Pioneer Days parade where it also won sweepstakes.” The committee notes that the picture shows the float in the Paso Robles Pioneer Days parade. It became the basis for the 2024 logo, along with 1970s styling and California’s state flower. The 2024 theme was “50 Years of Fabulous Floats.”

Every year the committee names a King, a Queen and a Grand Marshal. In 2019 they were Jack and Bonne Scott, with Flora Mae Adams as Grand Marshal. In 2021 Mike and Charlotte Byrne, who started ECHO, wore the crowns, and Joan Rexroth was Grand Marshal. The 2020 line reads “No Royalty.” In 2013 the community marked its 100th birthday, and every past royal couple and parade marshal was named royalty for that year. The 2013 theme, “Atascadero: The Vision of One—The Work of Many,” was also the city’s official motto.

In the weeks before the 2026 parade, the committee’s Facebook page posted old galleries year by year, from 1974 onward. Under the 1982 photographs it noted: “Film and developing was expensive back then, so there aren’t as many as you would see these days.”

Rain in November

For more than 50 years Colony Days fell on the first or third Saturday of October. In 2025 the committee moved it to November 15 to join the Fall Festival. The move was made with En Fuego Events and the City of Atascadero. “The move was thought out and was done to keep the parade alive for the next 50 years and make sure it continues to celebrate the community of Atascadero as it grows into the future,” said Elizabeth Enriquez-Phillips, the committee’s co-chair. “Partnering with En Fuego Events and the City allows us to bring additional resources and energy while staying true to the legacy of Maggie Rice Vandergon.”

The 2025 theme was “Road to Atascadero: Butterfly Drive.” Dave and JoAnn Davis were King and Queen, and Mike Zappas was Grand Marshal. Heavy rain fell on the day. The Atascadero Fine Arts Academy won Best Theme with monarch butterflies that, the committee wrote, “made quite the splash, even in the rain.” They appear on the 2026 flyer.

On February 2, 2026, the committee announced a return to the third Saturday in October, calling it the event’s original and historic timeframe, with the Fall Festival moving dates to join it. The committee is a volunteer-led 501(c)3 nonprofit that meets at Bridgeworks Coworking in Atascadero. It calls the 2026 edition its 53rd event. The entry form carries one more line: “This year’s parade is in honor of our founder Margaret ‘Maggie’ Rice Vandergon.”