Photo gallery: Cedar City’s Independence Day festivities kick off with parade

CEDAR CITY — Hundreds of folks, many of them wearing red, white and blue, lined the streets of downtown Cedar City on Monday morning to watch the city’s annual Independence Day parade.

Independence Day parade, Cedar City, Utah, July 5, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The parade featured 11 floats that were part of the Cedar City Lions Club’s “Spirit of ’76” series depicting iconic scenes from early U.S. history.

The procession also included an assortment of other entries, including rodeo and pageant royalty, elected officials and political candidates, youth all-star baseball teams, young dancers and bicyclists, ATVs and vintage automobiles, along with several local businesses and organizations.

Parade organizer Heather Carter said the following entries received cash awards for best representing the “Spirit of ’76” theme:

  • First place, Cedar View Pediatric Dentistry, $100.
  • Second place: Canyon Creek Services women’s shelter, $75.
  • Third place (tie): Genpak manufacturing, $50 and Cedar Pride LGBTQ+, $50.

Another crowd favorite, Carter said, was the wheelbarrow manned by her daughter Nellie Carter and her cousin Karson Marshall, who went behind the procession of horses and took turns shoveling manure from the road.

“It’s a family tradition for our kids to scoop poop every Fourth of July,” Carter said with a laugh.

Cedar City’s celebration wraps up at dusk Monday, with fireworks show will take place at the airport at 10 p.m.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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