Parade History

Several years ago, a small group of patriotic volunteers formed a nonprofit organization to host an annual Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade. Our mission is simple: To honor all veterans and to educate and inspire community awareness while paying tribute to the service and sacrifices all veterans have endured in the pursuit of freedom.

In just this short time, our parade has grown to be one of the biggest and best in the United States. This has only been possible because of the work of hundreds of community volunteers and the generous financial support of the local business community which covers all the parade’s costs.

We have rekindled a great tradition where veterans are enthusiastically cheered as they walk down Tejon Street in Colorado Springs. For that reason, and because we encourage participation by all veterans (including those who are not members of a formal organization), veterans come from all over southern Colorado to participate in the parade.

In addition to presenting the parade, our board works diligently to educate children of all ages on the sacrifices our military veterans have made. We encourage kids to participate in or attend the parade as a way of saying thank you to our veterans. Over 500 Boy and Girl Scouts marched or assisted with the parade; five high schools built patriotic floats for the parade, and ten high school bands played a musical tribute to our veterans. We also had approximately 40,000 spectators at the parade; many of these were children with their families, so it appears our efforts to educate today’s youth are paying off.

We have Active Duty Units from the Air Force Academy, Ft. Carson, Peterson & Schriever Air Force bases representing branches of the Air Force, Army and Navy regularly participate, as well as Canadian Units stationed in the Colorado Springs Area bases.

The Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade is entirely funded through donations from local businesses and individual contributors. It costs approximately $50,000 annually to host and those funds are received through monetary as well as in-kind donations. The parade board does not receive any funding through any government agency, and we do NOT charge veterans to participate; nor do we solicit funds from their organizations. We are an IRS approved 501c (3) nonprofit organization.

Themes from Previous Parades

2000 – Korea

2001 – The Purple Heart

2002 – POW / MIA

2003 – Vietnam Veterans: Welcome Home

2004 – Total Force: Active, Guard, and Reserve

2005 – World War II – Tribute to a Generation 

2006 – A Nation at War … A Community of Support

2007 – American Heroes – Past, Present and future 

2008 – America’s Veterans, We Salute You! 

2009 – Veterans – The Unwavering Force

2010 – Veterans, Diverse and Determined

2011 – Pearl Harbor - 70 Years in Remembrance

2012 – Iraq Veterans - Defenders of Freedom

2013 – Spirit of the Warrior

2014 – Honoring Veterans for 15 Years

2015 - Honoring the Military Family - It Takes a Team

2016 – Women in the Military

2017 - Celebrating Military Milestones

2018 - Armistice/Veterans Day 100 Years

2019- Honoring Veteran Service Organizations

2020 - Cancelled due to pandemic

2021 Greatest Generation

2022 - Serving the Forces for Mission Success