How America’s Freedom Festival Grand Parade in Provo comes together
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- Equestrian units walk along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- Vintage vehicles travel the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- BYU football coach Kalani Sitake waves to patrons along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- A Payson High School drummer performs in the Freedom Festival Grand Parade on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- A military tank crawls along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionaries walk along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- A helium balloon is pictured on the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- Military veterans wave to people along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- American Fork’s marching band performs along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- Brigham Young University president Shane Reese gestures to patrons along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- Springville City’s parade float moves along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- Equestrian units walk along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- A military veteran waves to people along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- A Provo parade float travels the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi waves to people along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- BYU mascot Cosmo travels along the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- An old western cowboy travels the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
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- Emergency vehicles drive upon the Freedom Festival Grand Parade route on University Avenue on Friday, July 4, 2025, in Provo.
Thousands of people lined the streets of University Avenue and Center Street on Friday morning to take part in what is arguably Provo’s greatest annual spectacle: America’s Freedom Festival Grand Parade.
The Fourth of July celebration is believed to be one of the largest in the western United States, showcasing numerous high school marching bands, city floats, public figures and military vehicles.
No shortage of preparation went into the event this year, ensuring that once Grand Marshall and BYU football coach Kalani Sitake drove by in a Roadster to get the parade started, everything would go off without a hitch.
“Everybody has a part,” Parade Chair Terry Kennard said. “And we just come together and through six months worth of work, we put on a parade that, in my opinion, is one of the best in the country.”
Kennard said a parade committee of 40 people splits up the following duties: the vending of floats, creating banners, finding military vehicles and dignitaries and scheduling marching bands. The committee sends out applications to different entities it believes will be interested in participating.
Several communities and businesses throughout Utah Valley do their own part by building themed floats.
Kennard said the parade compiled roughly 15 equestrian units, 30 military units, 20 floats, 16 marching bands and four helium balloons this year.
“One after another, we get all these things all together,” he said.
Police coordination
With tens of thousands of people packed into Provo eager to celebrate the holiday, safety is on the top of everyone’s mind.
The parade is one of a handful of America’s Freedom Festival events the Provo Police Department is heavily involved with in implementing protocols to keep attendees safe and minimizing impact on the general public.
“The city does support us a ton,” Kennard said. “They provide the police and the roads and a lot of the infrastructure that we need for a parade.”
Janna-Lee Holland, public information officer for the police department, said it’s a collaborative effort between police, fire and event organizers that encompasses more than a dozen meetings prior to events to determine safety and emergency plans.
“The Department leads the planning for safety and road closures and will make recommendations and adjustments as needed,” Holland said. “We also work with UDOT and Provo City Engineers for diversions, light cycle changes and monitoring during events.”
Holland said a myriad of factors come into play as law enforcement explores how to enact safety measures.
Safety for the community, spectators, participants and staff are at the forefront of their planning, as well as making sure enough staff is on hand to manage different road closures and detours in the area — but Holland says they also think about other potential risks.
“On a larger scale, we also consider broader disruption and public safety factors such as event protestors, domestic and foreign terrorism and attacks on dignitaries who may be in attendance,” she told the Daily Herald. “We utilize different equipment, specialty teams and training to prepare, prevent and respond to any situation.”
Holland says their department utilizes an Intelligence Analysis Team to conduct threat assessments prior to each event. They also work with statewide and federal partners to monitor any threats throughout the events.
It’s an all hands on deck approach to staff the area of the parade route during the lead-up to the event and the day of.
On Thursday, Provo Police assigned extra officers with support from Utah Highway Patrol and the Utah County Sheriff’s Office to manage increased activity and overnight parade campers.
On Friday, 68 officers, including support teams, conducted safety measures during the Freedom run and parade.
“Our officers are proud to serve our community and its visitors, protecting the patriotic celebrations of our nation’s freedom,” Holland said.
Community participation
Parade organizers said approximately 350,000 people attended the event in 2024, a number Kennard said is based on a software program that KSL uses to estimate crowd sizes from its news helicopter.
With the event as crowded as it is, preparation on the spectator’s end is critical to have the best experience.
On Thursday, hundreds of community members took to the streets to secure the most-desired seats along the parade route, setting up tents and camping chairs and settling in for the evening.
Noelle Halasima arrived at midnight Thursday morning with her husband and some of her siblings and their spouses to secure seating for the whole family in front of the Provo City Library.
“This is a prime spot,” she said. “The emcee is usually not too far, the grass is nice. You get shaded from the building and the sun’s not in your face.”
It’s the same spot Halasima’s family has sat every year for over a decade. Typically, one of her brothers is the first to arrive, and he has it down to a science — knowing when the sprinklers come on, the porta potties arrive and the bleachers drop.
The reason they keep coming back is simple.
“Community,” Halasima said. “Because we see the same people every year. There’s a few people here who have been camping out just as long as us.”
For others, camping out is a new experience.
For recent Brigham Young University graduates Max Miller and Kyler Linton, spending the night on University Avenue with friends marked a final get together before everyone went their separate ways.
“(Linton’s) getting married, our other buddy’s getting married next week, and so this is also just kind of a last hurrah as roommates,” Miller said. “We’re just having a good time.”
The crew was prepared with laptops to stay productive and a portable stove and was ready to celebrate the holiday with the masses.
“People like each other and want to be with each other,” Kennard said. “There’s a community, a spirit of brotherhood, of oneness here that when we come together as a city, people love doing it, and so it’s an experience for everybody.”
