Parade History

Here at Grassroots, we plan a lot of events. Parties, festivals, 5Ks. So the other day we got to thinking about parades and where they come from. Who first thought it would be a good idea to line up hundreds of people and have them walk through the streets? I did a little research and found out a few interesting things that I will now share with you.

1. Parades are old. There are records of religious processions and parades going back to 3,000 B.C.

2. The first public parades were military or political in origin. Now this isn't all that different from now. A lot of our current parades celebrate military achievement or government holidays. Religious holidays were a cause for parades back then too. Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, Mardi Gras. Sound familiar?

3. In medieval Italy citizens would decorate carts with historical scenes and roll them down the street. These carts evolved into our modern day floats.

4. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, that started in 1924, was the first to shift parades from strictly religious or political celebrations to advertising gestures. Macy's was the first to suggest that companies could promote themselves as well as celebrate with their community.

So now that you know a little more about parades and where they come from, why not join ours? We still have spots available for groups or businesses in our Independence Day parade and would love to have you! You can find the application here. And if you aren't in the parade, I hope you will still join us to celebrate just like our ancestors did thousands of years ago!