SEBASTIAN — Thousands upon thousands of Sebastian residents – and those from around Indian River County flocked to Indian River Drive early Thursday to get a prime seat to watch the 43rd annual Fourth of July Parade, which kick starts the day-long Freedom Festival at Riverview Park.
“It was awesome,” said Chelsea Clark, who attended the parade with her friends and family – Jeremy Clark, Matt Baute, and Aspen Potaczek.
Each one walked away from the parade with their own favorite float.
For Chelsea, it was the float that recognized the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. The float featured a person dressed and posed as President Abraham Lincoln immortalized at the Lincoln Memorial.
Jeremy said his favorite was Re/Max Crown Realty, which was decked out with its hot air balloon torch set behind a cut out of Lady Liberty. When the float passed by, the hot air balloon torch let out a burst of fire, lining up with Lady Liberty’s torch.
Aspen said she liked the horses parading down the road from Florida Equestrian Foundation and HALO Animal Rescue – essentially, any float featuring animals.
Matt’s favorite part of the parade wasn’t actually the parade, but instead a couple parachutists using propulsion devices to carry in two American flags over the Indian River Lagoon.
“I thought that was pretty cool,” he said.
Bob Edmiston and Nick Barson, members of the Air Sports Parachute Team, took flight from the Sebastian Municipal Airport and bailed out of their plane over the Indian River Lagoon, immediately east of Riverview Park, in order to fly the flags above the gathered crowd.
The spectacle temporarily halted the parade as parade watchers and participants alike turned their gaze to the sky.
“We were thinking they were on fire,” said Samantha Krug, explaining that it looked like there was smoke coming from the parachutists. She said she liked seeing the flag flown over the river and how it stopped everyone in their tracks to watch.
Her son, 7-year-old Jacob, however, liked the squirt guns and water cannons the best. A bit on the warm side, Jacob said the cool water from the floats felt really good.
Krug liked the start of the parade best with all the military and veteran groups represented, presenting their respective flags. She used the moment to explain to her children the importance and meaning of the various flags.
The parade wrapped up shortly after 10 a.m., leading the parade-goers to Riverview Park for a day filled with live entertainment, contests and games, and vendors and clubs selling products and raising awareness.
The activities continue until 9 p.m., when the City of Sebastian will top off the evening with a fireworks display over the lagoon.
The City of Vero Beach, too, will be celebrating the Fourth starting at 4 p.m. with its Family Fun and Fireworks event. The event includes bounce houses, food vendors, arts and crafts vendors, and more. Alcohol sales will begin at 5 p.m.
The fireworks display by Zambelli Internationale and radio simulcast by 93.7 The Breeze will start at dusk around 9 p.m. and is expected to last approximately 15 to 20 minutes. The show can be seen from the city’s bridges and along the Indian River Lagoon.
