Quick Take:
The asphalt was hot and the crowd warmly welcomed one of Santa Cruz County’s iconic annual gatherings.
A warm Thursday morning brought out hundreds of spectators and participants to the World’s Shortest Parade in Aptos for Independence Day, 2024. As usual, hundreds of celebrants watched the homegrown parade amble down Soquel Drive in Aptos, from State Park Avenue into Aptos Village, bringing smiles, cheers and the usual festive atmosphere.
This year, many regulars marched down the road, including the Watsonville Community Band, local politicians, high school sports teams including Aptos High School baseball and football, various little league teams and even Darth Vader and his loyal stormtroopers attended the local staple.
The World’s Shortest Parade started in 1961. It began after the Aptos Ladies Tuesday Evening Society defeated a proposed zoning change that would have allowed the construction of a cement batching plant in the center of Aptos Village. The celebration was originally held on Memorial Day.
The event was so popular that on the following Fourth of July, a parade and potluck were planned. Everyone turned out in old-fashioned clothing and vintage cars, and thus, the parade was born. It features vintage cars and Santa Cruz musicians of all talents and groups. The name “The World’s Shortest Parade” owes to its original route, which started at the corner of Trout Gulch and Soquel and then traveled to the current location of the Parish Publick House.