Indiana Fever icon Tamika Catchings will lead 500 Festival Parade as Grand Marshal
Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings will serve as the Grand Marshal for the 2024 AES 500 Festival Parade.
The organization that produces the namesake festival, 500 Festival, announced the selection Wednesday.
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The WNBA champion is a four-time Olympic gold medalist, a 10-time WNBA All-Star and a five-time Defensive Player of the Year.
She retired after 16 seasons with the Fever and is the league’s No. 2 scorer and rebounder of all time.
In 2004, Catchings launched the Catch the Stars Foundation, promoting fitness, literacy and youth development.
Past Grand Marshals include Olympic gold medalist Frank Shorter last year, Mickey Mouse (1974, 1985 and 1992 with Minnie), President Gerald Ford (1979), and the Indiana Fever in 2013, the year after they won the WNBA Championship. The 500 Festival also on Wednesday announced the winners of its coloring contest in which contestants age 12 and under design their own race cars.
The two grand-prize winners are 9-year-old Winnie Mattingly, from Indianapolis, and 4-year-old Celia Nolting, from Carmel. Each will receive a $500 scholarship and a free one-year membership to the INDYCAR Nation Rookie Program.
The 500 Festival Parade starts at 12 p.m. on May 25.
Parade tickets are available at 500festival.com.
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X: @cherylvjackson.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever icon will be 500 Festival Parade grand marshal
