What We Saw: 500 Festival Parade 2013, Take 2

Before about 300,000 onlookers today, the 500 Festival Parade came and went without incident. It was a delightful display for all, young and old, populated with IndyCar drivers (appearing in reverse order of starting position), celebrities, colors galore, international garb, floats, balloons manned by dozens of volunteers, marching bands, dancers, and—how could we forget?—lots of automobiles, both vintage and current.

Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee, no stranger to controversy and ever the huckster, even left his car at one point to take a photo with a fan sporting a shirt with McAfee’s “Boomstick” moniker emblazoned on it. And that was just about the biggest “incident” of the event, which was otherwise marked by periodic stop-and-go float traffic—horse droppings, you know—and one 10-minute halt when a protester entered the parade on Pennsylvania Street and wouldn’t leave.

Your turn: What did you like most about today’s parade?

Enjoy the photos here, and do see our other 500 Festival and Indy 500 weekend galleries. It’s May Madness in full swoon now!

Photos by Tony Valainis and Enrique Fernandez