The parade will be back and Covington Days is going strong, according to organizers of the community festival.

Covington Lions Club is in its third year of coordinating the time-honored annual celebration that takes place this month on July 25-27.

Familiar activities, including the return of the parade on Saturday morning after a one-year hiatus due to funding problems, will be on the agenda, according to Judy Swanberg, who has co-chaired the Covington Days Festival Committee for the Lions since the organization took over in 2006.

“The biggest thing is we are going to have the parade this year,” Swanberg said. “We had to cancel that last year. It will start at 11 a.m. over behind City Hall.”

Also planned is a quilt show during the entire festival at Cedar Heights Middle School, as well as an art show hosted by the city’s Arts Commission in the atrium of the MultiCare clinic. A 5-kilometer run and walk is planned before the parade, and there will be bands, booths and vendors on the lawn at MultiCare throughout the weekend.

In addition, the city of Covington will host its second annual community picnic on Sunday, as part of its ongoing efforts to connect with residents.

Thanks to its new utility tax, the city can also provide ongoing financial support for the festival out of the $30,000 set aside for recreation and community events, officials said. The City Council approved support at its June 10 meeting.

According to city officials, Covington will pay $7,500 specifically for costs related to the parade, including pay for Covington Police and King County Sheriff deputies and public works employees’ overtime. This will ensure that the roads staff is available to close Southeast 272nd Street from State Route 18 east to Southeast Wax Road, and from there north to Southeast 267th Place.

City manager Derek Matheson explained that the community picnic is also supported by the City Council. About $1,000 was approved for spending on the picnic.

All of the funds will remain in city coffers and actual expenses will be reimbursed, rather than giving the money directly to the Festival Committee.

Matheson said the festival is an example of utility tax revenue helping make Covington a better place.

“We really want to help people see how the utility tax is more than just a few more dollars on their bills. It’s really improving their community, whether it’s police or traffic or parks or community events,” he said.

While the matter of the parade funding has been settled, there are still some in the community who think that there won’t be a parade this year – a rumor that festival organizers want to head off.

“Everybody was so disappointed last year” when there was no parade, Swanberg said. “We’ve heard everyone saying that there wasn’t going to be a parade, and we were scared when we heard that.”

Swanberg thinks the rumors are dampening interest in groups submitting entries for the parade.

The Festival Committee would love to have more entries in the parade, she said – anything from horse teams to school bands to Scout troops to football teams or any other group that wants to be in the procession.

And for that matter, Swanberg would love to see the Lions Club grow. Rumors of the club’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, she said, but “the club is struggling. We need members.”

For now, the small club of 13 is working hard to pull together Covington Days again, and Swanberg remains passionate about the festival.

“I love it. I think it’s a worthwhile cause,” she said. “We’re doing our best to make it happen.”

Staff writer Kris Hill can be reached at (425) 432-1209 (extension 5054) and khill@reporternewspapers.com