LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The triple-digit heat didn't stop the fun in Downtown Las Vegas on Saturday, as hundreds came out to enjoy the Helldorado Days Parade along 4th Street.
For many locals, it's one of the best days of the year — a tradition dating all the way back to 1935 that celebrates Las Vegas' founding, our culture and our western roots.
Whether it's your first Helldorado Days Parade or you go every single year, there's something uniquely "Las Vegas" about hundreds of people braving the heat to see people on stilts, cowboys on unicycles, marching bands and floats honoring our city's history.
Opal Collins moved to Las Vegas from Virginia a couple years ago, and Saturday was her first time experiencing the Helldorado Days Parade.
"We love the community stuff — being able to come out and enjoy different things," Collins said.
Patricia Escudero-Flores and Monica Lopez have tried to come every year for more than a decade.
"We're parade people," Escudero-Flores said. "The music, the schools, the bands, the energy, the kids — you can feel it, everyone's having fun!"
"I love parades and watching everybody come out supporting them!" Lopez said.
It was Charli Aguilar's second time at a Helldorado Days Parade.
"This has been one of the best parades I've been to in a really long time," Aguilar said. "Even with the heat, the groups around here have been enjoying all the energy and the celebration."
The Helldorado Days Parade is held every year in mid-May to mark the land auction on May 15, 1905, that was the beginning of Las Vegas.
The parade now serves as an opportunity for all of us to come together and celebrate where we came from, and where we're going.
"We spoke to one lady who moved here from Hawaii, and it shows you the different people like us who come here from somewhere else," Opal Collins said. "This is what Vegas is about — community, seeing things, experiencing it — how can you beat it?"
While this year's Helldorado Days Parade may have wrapped up, the heat isn't going anywhere this weekend — whatever you have planned, make sure you're drinking lots of water, wearing sunscreen and your favorite hat!
For more information on the Helldorado Days Parade, visit the City of Las Vegas' website by clicking here.
