On April 24th and 25th 2026, the Procession of the Species took place in downtown Olympia.
The Procession of the Species consists of two parades, with a luminary at night on the 24th, and the main parade on the 25th during the day.
“Created by the community for the community, the Procession of the Species Celebration is a joyous, artistic pageant, embracing the languages of art, music and dance to inspire learning, appreciation and protection of the natural world,” explains the Procession of the Species Celebration website.
Created in 1994, Olympia’s Procession is there to celebrate Earth Day, so it’s always on the weekend after the national holiday.
Everyone has the opportunity to come into the studio of the Procession of the Species and create their own symbol of life. Many people create costumes, lanterns, and even whole statues that represent different parts of nature- most of which are animals.
The creators get creative, using many different materials.There are no limits and only three rules:
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- No written or spoken words. We use no words, symbols or lyrics in our art, music or dance
- No pets or live animals. We have no live animals in the Procession, with the exception of service animals.
- No motorized vehicles. We do not motorize our creations- which includes the use of musical amplification. Of course, a motorized wheelchair is certainly permitted.
There are even workshops in the studio where you can “learn how to make luminaries, masks, bucket drums, and more.”
The Procession of the Species is a way to bring people together. Not only were there a lot of people in the parade, dancing, playing music, and showing their artwork; there were also so many people also that came together to watch the parade, stayed for dinner or lunch, and hung out on the grass near the gazebo downtown while children were drawing on the street with chalk.
It is a way to make the people feel like a community, and make them aware that they are the ones who can make a change in the world, even if it’s just by building art and showing other people what a great world we live in.
Work Cited
Procession of the Species – Olympia, Washington, https://www.procession.org/. Accessed 28 April 2026.
