Hundreds attend East Longmeadow 4th of July parade

EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. (WWLP) – Red, white and blue filled the streets of East Longmeadow as people celebrated Independence Day at the towns Fourth of July parade.

East Longmeadow resident Lucy Paterno told 22News why this is a special day, “There is a lot of candies and parades and we know that there is police officers and we are celebrating this day because it’s America’s birthday and we know the people that we love.”

At the parade, families were able to see different bands perform and there were several local organizations and floats that were passing out candy and necklaces to the children.

“We are excited to be here. Me, my sister and cousin are excited to get the candy. It is really fun because you get to see all the cars, all the floaties and stuff and collect the candy,” said Violet Rizzuto of New Hampshire.

State and City officials including Springfield Mayor Sarno, State Senator Jake Oliveira and U.S. Representative Richard Neal were also a part of the parade. This Fourth of July parade is one celebration that thousands of people come out for and it’s one of the biggest parades in western Massachusetts. According to organizers, there were about 1,500 people participating in the parade.

Carol Labha from Ludlow says she goes to this parade every year, “It is just a fun family filled event that they get excited to see and he is excited to see the cars this year, and the band, and just something to do, and it’s nice weather.”

Many families plan to continue the Fourth of July celebrations by going out to see fireworks displays later Thursday night.

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