Monday morning more than 150,000 spectators will line King Street in Kitchener and Waterloo to watch the colourful floats, clowns, and award-winning marching bands from Canada and United States participate in the annual Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day parade.
An estimated 1.8 million viewers across Canada will tune in at noon to watch the parade on CTV.
For organizers and volunteers, as show time approaches they spent most of Sunday at a warehouse in Waterloo putting the finishing touches on the floats.
There are 35 floats in total, 12 of them are brand new, but organizers say what really makes the event come alive are the nearly five thousand people that walk, march, or play in the parade.
Parade Co-chair Paul Hauck says they would be lost without the volunteers. “We have a great crew of volunteers to help out.”
At 4 a.m. Monday the floats line-up along with the participants.
Most people don’t realize how much work goes into organizing one of the most spectacular parades in Canada. Parade Director Jean Weiler says a lot of work goes into the one-day event. “We are called the one-day wonders. We get teased all the time. It’s actually 12 month job.”
Spectators are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to the parade and volunteers will collect them along the route.
The parade begins 8:30 a.m. in Waterloo at King and Erb streets and continues down King Street to Madison Avenue in Kitchener.
