I’ve been in several as a member/leader of the Family Readiness Group for my husband’s Army unit. The first one was during his first deployment and I simultaneously cried, smiled, and waved the entire 1.5 miles. The best one we did was during the last deployment. We had about 50 people with matching bright red tee shirts and we released 120 yellow balloons in the town center representing each of our deployed soldiers safe return home. Way cool.
Elementary schhol band. Junior High School band. High School marching band. That ended in 1976. For the last several year the historical reenacting group I’m in has marched on Memorial day and Veteran’s Day.
And in 1997, after no Fourth of July parade in my town within my memory, I got one started again. It was held annually through last year, but we’re taking a break for this year, at least, because participation was dwindling.
Last parade I was in, I was a cub scout. And we rode on a float.
In the last days of 2000, Tokyo Disneyland celebrated with a special parade named New Century Countdown Parade. Specially-selected park guests were able to join the parade along with the performers and Disney characters. We met backstage in the park and they donned us in colorful shiny costumes and party hats. During the parade, we held up large balloons with “2001” printed on them.
What’s the reason? Being in a band is hard work, and most people I played/marched with were interesting, funny, socially-well-adjusted people, and a few were extremely talented. Debate sounds like lollygagging in comparison.
…
I marched in a few parades. The only one of note was the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We weren’t very good, but we knew a guy who knew a guy. This was when I went to Charlotte Catholic High School.
The only parade I marched in was the graduation parade - we marched from the old university, through the centre of town to city hall. Probably abt 3k graduands. Main road and all was closed. Was lotsa fun (and is still what I remember most about my graduation)
Oh yes! High school marching band many times (the only girl trumpet player!;)). But the best was as High school “Sweetheart”–riding in an early 70s T-top Corvette! (in the mid-70s)
The closest I’ve come is marching in the Krewe of Cosmic Debris procession a couple of times at Mardi Gras. Of course, anyone can join in. (As for my state, Agus fágaimid siúd mar atá sé 
)
Pride parades, every year since the first one in NYC in 1970.
School band here too (clarinet). Much later, the company I worked for had a float in a bunch of community parades and a bunch of us trailed along passing out little boxes of Tide. And a few protest marches that were kinda like parades, in the late 60’s.
I’ve been in (and organized) several parades as an adult, as part of the community festival I used to work on, but those were not very interesting.
I was a seven-year-old Chile in '76, and while the Independence Day celebration in our teeny hometown in Minnesota was always a Big Event©, that year it was extra-special in a big, big way, because of the bicentennial.
There was always a hyoo-jass parade, preceded by a kiddie parade. Some of the older family members thought it’d be hilarious to build a “float” for the event, and assigned various cousins to staff it.
Small cousin Jason, aged threeish, was Paul Revere. He was dressed in a fetching “colonial” costume, complete with powder blue knickers suit and matching tricorn (who knew ol’ Paul was light in his loafers??) and a pinned-on pigtail made from one of my Mom’s childhood braids that Grandma had saved. He rode one of those bouncy horses.
Even-smaller cousin Jennifer, aged about 18 months, was Betsy Ross, seated in a wee rocking chair with a flag in her lap. She wore a colonial-style dress and mobcap, plus little wire-rimmed glasses. She was adorable!
The rocking chair and horse were mounted to a large rolling platform that was decorated with the appropriate red/white/blue bunting and ribbons and sparkly streamers and crap. The only problem with this super-patriotic equation was that the float needed a source of locomotion.
This is where my cousin Tommy and I came in. He was about a year older than I, and a strapping young freckle-faced lad. We were to dress up as colonial folk, and pull the darn float by tugging on a big rope attached to the front. Yay! We were VERY excited! Little did we know …
We sort of missed the mark with our costumes, and ended up rather Little House on the Prairie-ish, but who cared? I wore a long nightgown that was my Grandma’s, plus a mobcap. Tommy wore suspenders with his trousers, a floppy sodbuster hat, and his Dad’s boots. The only problem with my outfit was the fact that I didn’t own any shoes that would’ve been remotely appropriate. So I went barefoot. On one of the hottest blasted days in the whole damn summer. Ouch!
On the way to town, I pestered my Dad to buy me candy to throw to the kids. What ELSE could we possibly do while walking a parade route, duh! He stopped at the store and bought a big bagful of penny candy. He’s a good Daddy.
Each of the wee cousins got a piece of candy. Jennifer dropped her taffy on her flag, and she kept trying to pick it off, so it really looked like she was sewing. Big cousins Terrie and Melissa walked with us, and every so often prompted Jason, “Say it again!” He’d yell, “The Bwitish are comin’, the Bwitish are comin’!”
We won first prize in the kiddie parade. We shared $100. I had blisters on my feet. The end.
I have photos of it somewhere around here. If I can find 'em I’ll scan 'em.
Unwittingly. My father got all us kids together to hit a restaurant only to find out that there was a parade blocking off the route to the restaurant. So he sneaks in between the barriers joins the parade then turns off into the restaurant parking lot when we got that far… 
More times than I’d like to think about. I was a cheerleader (between jr high, high school and college) for 8 years. Also did a parade in the Happy Apple Festival riding in a prom gown on the back of a convertible. They had us doing the fake wave and throwing candy like we were royalty and people were peasants. Very stupid
Four.
First was late 60s/early 70s. My uncle worked for Pepsi and for some reason, he had to put together a float representing people from around the world. I was to represent Hawaii. I wore a muu-muu and a lei, but I think my blond hair gave away that I wasn’t a native. If I recall, Bob Crane (of Hogan’s Heroes) was the Grand Marshall of that event. Overall, not particularly impressive.
The next three were parades at Mardi Gras in 1977. I was part of the Purdue Navy Color Guard, carrying the Navy flag. It was a rainy Mardi Gras. Plus all Navy participants (most of us were from university NROTC units) stayed aboard a troop carrier. We got a bunk. No privacy. Imagine a huge open bay full of stacks of WWII-type bunks taken over by a bunch of whiny girls. :eek:
Now that I think of it, there are no photos of me in any of those parades. Perhaps I imagined it all??
In Army bands, marched in many parades.
But one time I put a video camera on a tripod in the back of a truck and photographed the parade from the point of view of the float. I had an announcer walking alongside with a wireless mic, talking to the spectators. Sort of turned the tables on the way a parade is watched.
I was in marching band. If I’m never in a parade again, it’ll be too soon.
Well, hell. In high school I was on both the debate team and in the marching band. Why, yes, I wasn’t a star on the social scene!
I rode in a parade once, as a little miss princess. Hated it. The lady that rode with us constantly nagged - smile more, quit waving like that, sit up straight, don’t talk.
I have marched in many parades, back in high school. We had one of the premier marching bands in Minnesota, often travelled outstate for parades. I loved it, wool uniforms and all. The only sucky parade I marched in (oddly enough, for the same city festival I had been a little miss princess for ten years prior) had me marking time on the railroad tracks. It was very hot out and the soles of my jazz shoes began to melt on the tracks.
In college I snuck into the Halloween parade in Greenwich Village and marched with friends. It was fun.
Me too, for more than 20 years. Too many parades to count.
My neighborhood has had a Memorial Day parade every year for almost 50 years. The kids decorate and ride their bikes. It used to be much more elaborate; the local beauty queen would ride in the back of a red convertible and we would make actual floats to pull behind our bikes. I am talking about a neighborhood of about 100 homes. I was in the parade every year till I was about 10; now we get the dogs out to the curb and watch the kids on their Big Wheels. We clap and cheer for the best ones. At the end we follow them down to the end point for hot dogs.
15 years ago this Saturday we woke up to a parade under our window. Then we went and got married.