Fair-goers of all ages loved watching parades wind through the Fairgrounds.
On official days such as Dedication Day, Opening Day and Independence Day, thousands of people gathered to enjoy special festivities. Bands, military groups, members of professional and recreational organizations and celebrities marched, rode or drove through the fairgrounds. Some parades were held in boats on the lagoons.
Often the parades included floats or animals decorated with flowers.
Children in residence at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition took part in the parade on Children's Day, August 2, 1904. This picture shows the parade, just entering the Plaza of St. Louis. The great equestrian statue is The Apotheosis of St. Louis. The Palace of Varied Industries is shows beyond the Plaza with Intramural Railroad Station no. 1 beside it. The buildings whose roofs appear on the right are along the Pike.
One of the most conspicuous sights on St. Louis Day was the tens of thousands of Sunday School children, who marched through the Plaza of St. Louis, each one waving his flag and all singing and shouting.
Cummins Wild West Show occupies a prominent position on the north side of the Pike, near its center.
Children of the Sioux, Chippewas, Apaches and other American Indians participated in the Parade of All Nations given for the children of St. Louis at the World's Fair. TThe view is taken on the Model Street with the Kansas City Casino in the background. The high tower in the distance is the station of the DeForest Wireless Telegraph Company.
The Grand Blooded Horse Show parade took place on August 23, 1904. Registered animals representing twenty breeds took part. The parade was reviewed by David R. Francis, president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, Col. Charles F. Mills, chief of the Live Stock Department, and other officials.
Parade of peoples of the Pike marches on Administration Avenue on Opening day, April 30, 1904.
A float in one of the many parades at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
Following the letter carriers in the St. Louis Day parade came the postal clerks. We are looking up the Louisiana Way, from the southwest corner of the Plaza of St. Louis, main gondola landing. At our right, and beyond, stands that wonderful exhibit palace Varied Industries. ... The many hundred postal clerks here shown are from the St. Louis Post Office.
For the entertainment of children on their first free admission day, the World's Fair management gave a parade of all nations.
Clerks employed in the post offices of the Unitd States celebrated Sept. 7th as their day at the World's Fair with exercises and a parade. Each clerk wore a white blouse and white cap.
Parades were held almost daily during the Exhibition with many visitors turning out to witness military groups, bands, equestrian groups, and floats.
Transportation Day, July 30, 1904, at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was celebrated first with a water parade. In the afternoon, a land parade, starting at the Transportation Building, displayed all manners of transportation from ox teams to automobiles.