HUMBOLDT — When the late Dr. Arthur Carlson was once attending a cottage prayer, he became a bit pensive when talk turned to drawing a large crowd for an upcoming church revival.
At the time, Carlson was a Sunday School superintendent for Humboldt’s First Baptist Church, and was interested in spreading the Gospel.
But he was also on hand days earlier, when a man was chased out of town for setting up a microphone and loud speaker downtown and began delivering an impromptu sermon.
As he knelt in prayer, Carlson had an epiphany.
“Why not a parade?” he asked. “Nobody would chase a parade out of town.”
HIs imagination took it from there.
“In my mind’s eye, I saw an imaginary Bible story parade,” Carlson later wrote, featuring Adam and Eve, Noah, Jacob’s Ladder, Moses, and of course Christ’s birth, crucifixion and resurrection.
“All of these scenes I imagined,” Carlson said. “It was stunningly beautiful.”
As Carlson proposed his idea, a few folks were skeptical, but a few more decidedly receptive.
They decided to put a simple parade together that fall, the first Saturday of October, 1958.
ESTIMATES report as many as 10,000 people filled the streets.
The floats and walking entries were very simple, “but that added to its charm,” Carlson wrote.
By the end of the day, talk had already turned to the next year’s parade, including an official name.
It was Vern Howver who became the first to coin the term “Biblesta,” a name that has become synonymous with Humboldt for the next 68 years.
THE 2026 Biblesta returns Saturday, with a day filled with faith, family and fun.
The events kick off bright and early at 8 a.m. with a 5K Run For the Son. Registration starts at 7:30, and runners will gather at the northwest side of the square for the start.
