Chicago’s annual Bud Billiken parade brought joyful noise to Bronzeville Saturday afternoon as lifelong attendees, new arrivals and Chicago Public Schools families alike celebrated the start of back-to-school season.
The parade, now in its 94th year, is the largest African American parade in the United States and the second largest parade overall, behind only the Rose Bowl.A beloved tradition and performance showcase, the event celebrates Black joy and Black community in Chicago and its historic roots in the South Side.
The two-mile procession down Martin Luther King Drive in historic Bronzeville ended in Washington Park, where sponsors provided free backpacks, school supplies, haircuts and hair braiding. About 300,000 people attended this year’s parade.
The parade launched from Pershing Road and King Drive just after 10 a.m., though King Drive was blocked off starting at 33rd Street for dozens of bands, dance and drill teams, tumbling groups and cheerleading squads to warm up.
Near the start of the parade route, a group of students representing the Mathnasium drew with sidewalk chalk outside of Hartzell Memorial United Methodist Church, pausing to pet passing dogs. Bronzeville neighbors along the parade route stood on their porches and waved cheerfully. In the lots between apartments, some set up picnic tables, yard sales and even a bouncy castle.
As the first floats and horses made their way south, parade Marshalls handed out tiny bottles of bubbles to Patricia Lightfoot, 79, and Evelyn Bridges, 84.
Bridges has been coming to the parade every year since she was seven. As a child, Bridges marched in the parade with her Girl Scout Troupe.
Reexperiencing the parade as an adult has been “wonderful,” Bridges said. She noted, however, that the parade has felt a lot more commercial to her in recent years.
“It’s changed a lot since I grew up,” Bridges said.
Dozens of iconic Black politicians, athletes and entertainers have participated over the years, including President Barack Obama, Duke Ellington, Diana Ross, James Brown, Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali.
Two-time Grammy award-winning Chicago artist and poet J. Ivy was the parade’s Grand Marshal. Ivy, 46, won the first-ever Grammy for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album this year.
Other honorary grand marshals this year included Mayor Brandon Johnson, Pier 31 restaurateur Nikki Hayes and My Block My Hood My City founder Jahmal Cole.
Cole and My Block My Hood My City inspired this year’s theme, Parading in Peace, Block By Block.
The day’s performers included the Bang Dance Team and the Carver Military Academy Challengers.
Following large political contingents and a float of drummers representing the University of Chicago Urban Health Initiative, the Empire Dance Company was the first set of performers to dance their way down King Drive. Marching behind a sparkling blue and red float complete with a giant model rocket, dancers in blue and red jacket sets with Sonic The Hedgehog face paint performed a series of vibrant, up-tempo routines in the noon heat.
Later, gymnasts from the Jesse White Tumbling Team drew gasps from viewers with death-defying backflips, rotating several times in the air before landing on a mat and running to catch their team’s car.
Edward Ford, 68, watched the parade from the sidelines this year after years spent as a featured baton twirler. His troupe always wore black and gold in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Known as “The Bud,” the parade was established in 1929 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott, who is known as the father of Black journalism in Chicago. Abbott founded the Chicago Defender, a historically Black newspaper, in 1905.
The paper’s early coverage played a significant role in encouraging the migration of Black residents from southern states to Chicago. It also included a children’s section, which evolved into a youth social club and ultimately into the annual Bud Billiken parade.
Abbott’s descendants, the Sengstacke family, have led the Chicago Defender and organized the parade for four generations.
Ford said he finds the parade a great way to celebrate Black heritage and history while encouraging kids to get excited for the start of school.
“It’s good to watch and look back on it instead of being in it,” Ford said.
Tantalizing aromas of barbecue smoke with a hint of lighter fluid drifted above King Drive as parade viewers turned hot dogs, hamburgers and sausages on portable grills. A dizzying array of snacks and sweets for sale could be found all along the parade route, including chicken wings, nachos, cupcakes, butter cookies and sno-cones.
Destiny Alicia, 8, and Jeremiah Alicia, 11, enjoyed ice cream bars as they watched the parade go by 40th Street. The Alicia family relocated from Bronzeville to Tinley Park last year, but came back for Destiny and Jeremiah’s second-ever Bud.
Jeremiah Alicia said he’s more excited for the parade than he is to start sixth grade. But Destiny Alicia, who’s entering third grade, said she can’t wait to meet her teacher.
Their mother Stephanie Alicia, 41, has been attending the parade on and off for thirty years.
“It’s the same old glory,” Stephanie Alicia said. “It’s so much fun.”
“And now you have kids!” Destiny Alicia chimed in.
Stephanie Alicia has been preparing for the start of school by attending free school supply giveaway events around the city. She was also excited to see marching bands, while Jeremiah and Destiny were fans of the dancers. Destiny hoped to see a float go by in pink and purple, her favorite colors.
“I’m glad we were able to get down here,” Stephanie Alicia said.
Like in 2022, the police presence at this year’s parade was noticeably heavy. Groups of eight to 10 Chicago Police Department officers on bikes rode up and down the street to the right of the parade route, with additional officers and police cards lingering at the blockade every few feet.
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Joe Young, 49, attended the parade with his three nieces and nephews. When he would come with his parents and grandparents as a child, security was much lighter and he could sit directly on the curb, he said.
“When I was a kid, they didn’t have these barriers,” Young said. “It was a little bit more intimate.”
Kayla Seals, 27, has been coming to the parade for 15 years. When she was younger, she said, Seals would look forward to lining up at the front of the barrier to greet floats and collect candy and toys from paraders.
Now, Bud Billiken marks the start of back to school season for Seals, Tena Jon, and their two children, 10 and 4.
“The kids aren’t excited for school to start. But I’m excited for them to get out of my house,” joked Jon, 30.
This is Jon’s second year attending the parade. In recent days, he’s looked forward to returning to last year’s high energy and sense of community.
“I like how [The Bud] brings Chicago together,” Jon said.
