Sioux Falls' long-standing parade candy ban getting tossed
Councilors want candy and balloons allowed at parades again
Candy could be coming back to Sioux Falls parades after a nearly 30-year hiatus.
The Sioux Falls City Council advanced a proposal this week that would repeal a long-standing ban on the distribution of candy — and balloons — during parades permitted through the Sioux Falls Police Department.
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Councilor Sarah Cole said she decided to ask her colleagues to support getting rid of the candy ban after it was recently highlighted in an article published by The Dakota Scout ahead of the 44th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which drew an estimated 30,000 patrons to downtown Sioux Falls on Saturday, March 16.
While its origins are rooted in safety — Sioux Falls banned candy in 1996 after a child was reportedly injured in a parade — Cole said the prohibition is overkill.
“I’ve lived in six different states and had the opportunity to attend parades, and there’s been candy thrown out at all those parades with the exception of here in Sioux Falls,” she said Tuesday. "If they can do it, we can do it.”
Cole’s ordinance, co-sponsored by Councilor Greg Neitzert, was unanimously supported at a first reading Tuesday night at Carnegie Town Hall. A final vote is scheduled at the City Council’s May 7 meeting.
Downtown Sioux Falls, Inc., which organizes Sioux Falls’ largest parades and has in the past indicated there’s a benefit in a candy ban in regard to cleaning up after the processions, has not taken a position on the ordinance.
City Hall is also neutral.
“I don’t have a strong position on this,” Mayor TenHaken said in an email.
Candy isn’t guaranteed to return as a staple of Sioux Falls parades, though. The decision to allow it, or put rules on how it's disbursed, will belong to parade organizers, Cole said.
“We can do it safely, and we’re going to leave it up to the parade organizers,” she said. “But I think offering candy at our parades would bring our parades up to another level.”
This is a very BAD idea. I remember excited children and apparently inebriated adults dashing into the street. On this issue I don’t care what happens in other cities. We care about our children and safety. If parades need free candy to “go up another level” it’s a step I don’t think we should take.
Secondarily , candy wrappers become litter, get into the storm sewer system and then dumped into our precious Big Sioux River.
I wouldn’t want the injury or possible death of a child on my conscience over a piece of candy.
Let’s deal with real issues like climate change and gun safety.
Do we really need all that stupid candy and other things being tossed out? All it's gonna go is create a trash problem that's gonna cost the tax payers to clean up. Hard pass. God forbid a child goes without a bag of candy at a parade.