LONG BEACH — After a pandemic-related pause, the 72nd annual Loyalty Days Parade returned over the weekend with thousands descending on Pacific Avenue in patriotic pride.

The Long Beach Loyalty Days parade, observed annually on or near May 1st, is a special holiday meant for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States of America, first starting in the 1950s.

The popular children’s parade also returned for the first time since 2019, with hundreds showing their support Saturday along Howerton Avenue in Ilwaco, a new route this year along the waterfront.

The main event however was held at 1 p.m Sunday in downtown Long Beach, where thousands lined Pacific Avenue in anticipation of the Loyalty Days Parade, featuring more than 80 individual entries, led by Grand Marshall Natalie Hansen. Hansen, 80, who had been honored as the Long Beach Citizen of the Decade and was given keys to the city prior to the parade, wore a black 1920s era flapper dress in celebration of the occasion.

The immense turnout for the parade was a positive sign for the city looking to rebound from two years of cancelled events due to the pandemic.