When can you reserve your spot for La Crosse’s Oktoberfest parades?

City of La Crosse reminds community about its public right of way policy

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — The city of La Crosse is gearing up for thousands of visitors this weekend for Oktoberfest.

Some of the biggest draws are sure to be the Torchlight and Maple Leaf Parades, but if you’re looking to get the best seat for those parades you’re not allowed to set up until midnight the night before. That means midnight Wednesday for the Torchlight and midnight Friday for the Maple Leaf.

Those rules are the same as last year’s.

The city will confiscate any unattended belongings on the route too early and will ask anyone to move for safety reasons.

“As you can see rushing behind me, whether it’s over here on Rose Street, over here on Copeland, this is a business day, Thursday, Wednesday is a business day, Friday when people are starting to set up, there’s still a lot of traffic on these highways,” said La Crosse Director of Public Works Dale Hexom.

The Torchlight Parade starts at seven Thursday night.

The Maple Leaf Parade gets going at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning and, once again this year, the parade will be broadcast live on News 8.

Click to read the City’s public right of way policy. Violators could be issued a citation totaling $114.