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PROVO — Thousands of people donned their stars and stripes, packed their sun umbrellas and lined up along downtown Provo's streets on Monday to watch the annual Grand Parade.
An estimated 300,000 people attended the parade, one of the largest 4th of July celebrations in Utah.
The feeling of pride in country seemed to permeate the town as five jets from Hill Air Force Base flew overhead, with one plane in the center drawing a line across the sky.
Children waved their flags along with the sounds of marching bands, including a bagpipe group, ringing through the streets.
Highlights among the many parade floats included a large, inflatable red, white and blue airplane; a Chick-fil-A float with happy cows and an enticing giant ice cream cone and soda; a sparkly KSL float with a video reel; a float for the city of Payson decorated like a colorful garden scene; and a Central Bank float with giant, happy animals.
The parade's theme this year was: "To celebrate, teach, honor, and strengthen the traditional American values of God, family, freedom and country."
Several other parades took place across northern Utah on Monday.
The Murray Fun Days Parade also brought a large crowd as 90 float entries made their way through the city. Magna, Tooele and West Point held parades of their own.
The Centerville parade was canceled due to a fire, which officials said was likely caused by fireworks, late Sunday. Soon after starting, the Kaysville parade also ended due to a young girl who was participating in the parade being hit by a parade vehicle. She was flown to a hospital in critical condition.
