This year’s Peach Parade will be changing its route for safety reasons.

The floats have been required to stay attached to a moving vehicle to prevent any flow problems. They will also be turning left onto Jackson Avenue from Highway 31 instead of cutting through the Dixie Shopping Center parking lot like in years past.

“This has been something we’ve looked at for the past couple of years, and now we are sure that can work,” David Hicks said in a route update press release. “In the past, the parade route was extended to allow extra space for all of the parade entries and to allow shopping center patrons to view the parade.”

Since there has been no way to control traffic in the parking lot and vehicles could pass through the parade at will, the parade coordinators made the route change to protect patrons and participants.

For a front row seat in the Dixie Shopping Center, patrons should stand at the north end of the parking lot by City Tire along Jackson Avenue.

The parade will begin lineup at 8 a.m. on June 28 in the Park Plaza parking lot. All parade entries are expected to be ready to roll at 8:50 a.m.

The route will head out of the parking lot west on Fourth Avenue North to Sixth Street South. It will then turn right and then head toward Fifth Avenue North, where it will turn left proceeding to Highway 31.

The parade will then turn left onto Highway 31, head South and turn left on Jackson Avenue. The route continues with a left turn at Sixth Street South back through downtown Clanton making a final right turn at Third Avenue North. The parade will end at Clanton City Park.

For more information on the parade, contact Hicks at 755-1194 or 688-1060.