FORT WALTON BEACH — This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations will kick off soon with the annual parade, memorial and rally.
The 2014 observances will mark the 85th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the 29th celebration as a national holiday, and the 28th local celebration in Okaloosa County. The theme for the event is “Team Work Makes the Dream Work.”
This year’s celebration will include an oratorical and poster contest today from 10 a.m. to noon at Fort Walton Beach High School.
See photos from last year's parade. >>
The MLK Memorial Program will be Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the Fort Walton Beach High School auditorium.
The following day, the annual march will begin at 8 a.m., beginning on Miracle Strip Parkway to Beal Parkway, down Hollywood Boulevard to Wright Parkway and ending at Fort Walton Beach High School.
Following the march will be a rally in the Fort Walton Beach Municipal Auditorium at noon.
All of the commemoration activities are free and open to the public.