WELLSBORO, Pa. (WETM) — The 81st Annual Pennsylvania State Laurel Festival is just around the corner.

The Laurel Festival is a nine-day-long event in Wellsboro. The festival starts on Saturday, June 10 and ends on Sunday, June 18. This festival will feature an arts and crafts fair, a children’s health fair, a pet parade, foot races, a pageant, live music, and a two-hour-long parade. The parade traditionally features floats, high school bands, drum and bugle corps, fire trucks, Shriner’s units, and more. Parade participants come from around Pennsylvania and parts of New York. The parade will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 17.

The event takes place around different areas of Wellsboro, but most of it takes place at the Green. The festival will start with Family Day and a children’s health fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Green on Saturday, June 10. The following day will feature a pet parade from Packer Park to the Green at 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday will feature the Laurel Concert Series at various venues. Starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 8 p.m. on Friday, visitors will be able to attend an arts and crafts fair and the International Street of Foods at the Green. A full schedule of events can be found in this document.

Last year’s Laurel Queen, Regan Laurel Regina, will reign over the festival and crown 2023’s queen. Pageant contestants represent high schools from across Pennsylvania. The new queen will be crowned in the Wellsboro High School auditorium at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 17. Tickets will be $20 for adults, $10 for students and senior citizens, and $5 for children 12 and under.

This family-friendly festival started in 1938 and was named after Pennsylvania’s state flower. The Laurel Festival is administered by the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce and is organized by a committee of volunteers. For more information about this festival, you can visit this page of the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce’s website.