Parades

Procession, esp. celebratory, of people The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan is the world's largest parade. A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety of celebration. The term "parade" is also used in different contexts; for example, in the Canadian Armed Forces, "parade" is used both to describe the procession and in other informal connotations. Protest demonstrations can also take the form of a parade, but these are usually referred to as a march instead. History A parade in Sydney to celebrate the Federation of Australia in January 1901 The first parades date back to c. 2000 BC, for religious or military purposes. The Babylonians celebrated Akitu by parading their deities and performing rituals. The oldest in the world is the Lord Mayor's Show which takes place in London the day after a new mayor is inaugurated and which was established in 1215. To celebrate the federal government's victory in the American Civil War, 145,000 Union soldiers marched in a two-day Grand Review