Thousands flood Downtown Davenport for annual Festival of Trees Parade

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) -- The community was welcomed to kick off the holidays with the annual Quad Cities Arts Festival of Trees Parade.

Many locals who were taking in the parade, have been going since they were young and now they are passing along the tradition to the next generation.

“It’s amazing,” said Davenport Resident, Karen Newlon. “We have been great for us to be involved. We were born and raised here. My parents raised 11 children here. And now these are our greats. These are my granddaughters. And we come every year. We don’t miss.”

For a few, this parade was their first time.

“I love parades and I’ve always wanted to go to the big city parades to see the balloons as this is the closest I’m going to be able to come and bring my granddaughter Karmen,” said Cambridge, Illinois residents.

Many people from the Midwest flooded Downtown Davenport to get an up-front view of the Festival of Trees Parade.

“We were born on Christmas Day,” said Davenport Resident Sharon McIntyre. “So, Christmas is means a lot to both of us and so having a Christmas parade and people come from far and wide. I have friends from Muscatine that come and people come from Port Byron and Geneseo. This is a wonderful parade for families.”

If you weren’t able to make it out to the parade or watch the live telecast, you can watch it here.

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