MONUMENT, Colo. (KOAA) — The Monument Hill Kiwanis 4th of July Parade is expected to bring in between 15,000 and 20,000 people on Friday. Among the crowd will be a few families who secured their spots about 24 hours ahead of time.
Jim Wilson is 36 years old, he says the parade has been a tradition for his family before he was even born.
"I've been fortunate enough to have my parents bring me, and my grandparents bring them," Wilson said with a smile. "So our family's been here for, geez, over 50 years. So I've been coming for 36 years, and it's just important for us to keep the tradition and build a tradition, and now we get to bring our kids."
Wilson's kids are five and two years old. He found a spot on the edge of Limbach Park for his chairs and a tent on Thursday morning. Right next to him was Ryan Williams. They were holding their spots with a plan in place a whole day ahead of the parade making sure their kids had the ideal spot. Williams has been securing his spot ahead of time for nearly a decade.
"That's all they know," Williams said of his kids ages nine and 12. "This is the Fourth of July. They love the candy.... They love the friendship, the camaraderie."
Williams has a strategy he wasn't willing to share publicly to claim the prime spot. He said it can get really competitive going into Thursday night, but he lives nearby so he can keep an eye on his stuff.
"There's a lot of strategy behind this," Williams said as he stared down his competition in a friendly manner. "We did have competition a little earlier than normal this year, so I got on that real fast, brought my truck over here, claimed our spot."
There was a brief incident with Monument Police when tents were set up a bit too early... Williams explaining officers said the tents couldn't go up at that time, but said they wanted to make sure to follow the law in grabbing a great position for their kids to take in all the sights and sounds.
There are close to 100 entries for the 2025 parade that is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Click here for more details on the parade.
There is a shuttle at Lewis-Palmer High School that takes folks to the parade up until 9:45 a.m. The return shuttle schedule is from 12:30 to 3 p.m.
SCHEDULED OF EVENTS:
Pancake Breakfast - Hosted by St Peter's Knights of Columbus Council 11514
St. Peter Catholic Church 55 Jefferson St. 7 am - 10 am tickets at the door. Proceeds support local charities
Monument Hill Kiwanis 4th of July Parade
9:45 AM Children's parade and main parade throughout Downtown Monument. Access the Monument Hill Kiwanis Webpage.
Tri-Lakes Chamber of Commerce Street Fair
10:00 AM The Chamber of Commerce will show case a variety of vendors on Second and Washington Streets, to include festival foods, arts, local businesses and non-profits. Vendor registration is now open for the street fair.
Family Friendly Beer Garden in Limbach Park
Beer Garden 10:00 am - 5:00 pm - Open to all ages, but must be 21 and older to purchase/consume alcohol. No outside alcoholic beverages will be allowed into Limbach Park.
Live at Limbach! Live Bands at Limbach Park
11:30 am - 5:00 pm - Enjoy live music from Colorado musicians at the Limbach Park Bandshell. Check out the lineup on our 4th of July Bands and Sponsorship page.
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