The 2024 Colorado Springs Veterans Day parade has been canceled due to a lack of funding.
The parade’s board of directors does not charge a participation fee, but it has historically relied on sponsors and local businesses to help pay for the insurance, security and waste removal needed to execute the event safely and smoothly.
Organizers said they could not reach a minimum fundraising level of $50,000 this year, the estimated yearly cost of the event. That’s despite reporting its highest amount of financial support two years ago. The board’s last publicly available tax filing showed it raised nearly $47,000 in 2022, and it still held the parade that year.
The most expensive part of the event, according to tax documents, is the required police presence, which cost $10,696 in 2022. This year’s theme was supposed to center on the newest branch of the military, the U.S. Space Force. But with just 51 groups signed up to participate, compared to 87 in 2023 and nearly 100 before the pandemic, organizers said they had to call it off. The parade has seen a steady decline in both participation and attendance since 2020.
The board is hopeful the parade will make a comeback in 2025 in El Paso County, where more than 15 percent of the population identifies as military veterans. However, those plans will again depend on fundraising.
This is the second time since the parade’s inception in 2000 that organizers have called it off. The first cancellation was in 2020 due to health and safety concerns as the community navigated the pandemic.
Other Veterans Day celebrations will still take place in Colorado Springs, including a march and open house at American Legion PFC Floyd K Lindstrom Post 5 on Nov. 2, 2024, and a Veterans Day 5k and fun run at Goat Patch Brewing on Nov. 10, 2024.
Denver and Pueblo will both hold their Veterans Day Parades Nov. 9, 2024.
