Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson has been named grand marshal for the 2026 47th Parade, to be held in Salt Lake City on Friday, July 24th.
She joins the ranks of Apostles and members of the First Presidency who have held that role, becoming the second woman to serve as Generalissimo. In 2022, Sister Jean B. Bingham, then Relief Society General President, became the first woman to receive the honor of Grand Marshal since the parade began in 1849.
President Johnson said he is excited about the opportunity to honor his pioneer ancestors and celebrate all of the pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world.
“The parade is an opportunity to celebrate what we have in common, to come together, to reflect on the characteristics of our pioneer settlers and to seek to emulate their characteristics,” President Johnson told Church News.
The theme for this year’s Days of ’47 Festival is “Pioneers of Like, Learn, Love.” The Days of ’47 Parade is scheduled for Friday, July 24, at 9 a.m. in downtown Salt Lake City. July 24th is a state holiday in Utah and is known as Pioneer Day.
Pioneers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, on foot, in covered wagons, and pushing and pulling handcarts. Two years later, they began celebrating with an annual parade.
Born in Idaho and raised in Idaho, Germany, Texas and Utah, President Johnson has ancestors on both sides who crossed the Plains into the American West.
Some of her ancestors lived in Nauvoo, Illinois, where they built homes and businesses and helped build temples. They received their endowments at the Lord’s house in Nauvoo and then walked across the plains.
President Johnson said they were optimistic in the midst of circumstances and challenges. “They were persistent and faithful. It was clearly their faith in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ that moved them to follow the Saints and join them in answering the prophet’s call to Zion. And when they arrived here, their first priority was to build the temple.”
President Johnson grew up hearing stories about her faithful ancestors. She said she always knew that her own faith and faithfulness would give her access to the same promised blessings that drove her ancestors westward.
President Johnson and her husband, brother Doug Johnson, will also be participating in the parade. When she and Brother Johnson served as mission leaders in the Peru Arequipa Mission, they worked with “modern-day pioneers,” as many of the missionaries were the first and only members of their families or the first to serve a full-time mission.
“My pioneer ancestors and these amazing missionaries share a faithful commitment and love for our Savior Jesus Christ, and I am touched by it,” she wrote in a social media post on July 23, 2021.
On Tuesday, July 21, she spoke to Church News about meeting people around the world who have been converted and baptized to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, “who are pioneering in their homes and communities to build Zion.”
The upcoming Salt Lake Temple celebration is another opportunity to look back at the pioneers who entered the Salt Lake Valley and began building the Lord’s house. The six-month celebration and open house begins in April 2027.
“I’m really excited that the world will have the opportunity to go inside and better understand why it was a priority for the early pioneers,” President Johnson said. “We honor them, and I think people who pass through here will feel the Spirit and feel a connection to these people who built granite structures worthy of calling the Lord’s house.”
Recent Days of the ’47 Parade Grand Marshal
In 2025, the late President Jeffrey R. Holland was Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 2024 Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 2023, currently Second Counselor in the First Presidency, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Sister Jean B. Sister. Bingham, Relief Society general president in 2022, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2021, late President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2018 and 2016, then Elder Ballard, then Second Counselor Dieta of the First Society. – President F. Uchtdorf President Henry B. Eyring, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2017 and 2013; First Counselor in the First Presidency in 2015 and 2012; and the late President Thomas S. Monson, then President of the Church, in 2014.
