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There are dozens if not hundreds of annual events that bring extra visitors to the Valley each year, but the longest running event in Las Vegas is all about locals, and it’s back home on its Downtown streets this week.
The Helldorado Days Parade, the only parade produced by the City of Las Vegas and one of the most prominent connections to the city’s western roots and culture, originated 90 years ago. Carnival promoter Clyde Zerby created the event in 1935 to attract workers from the still-under-construction Hoover Dam and other visitors.
Thirty years after the land auction that created Las Vegas—and just a few years after gambling was re-legalized—Fremont Street was packed with gambling halls, saloons, hotels and shops, and Vegas was a western boom town. But officials were afraid the boom could end once the dam was complete, and the local Elks Lodge worked to install an annual version of the Helldorado Days festival to boost community spirit and possibly entice workers and their families to stick around.
“The Elks produced it all the way through 1997, then the city picked it back up for the centennial in 2005,” says Marja Bigas, special events administrator for the City of Las Vegas. “This year, we’re not only celebrating the city’s history and those western roots, but also Las Vegas’ birthday, turning 120 on May 15.
“It really gives you a sense of the community and that’s really what this event is for,” she continues. “It’s a free family-friendly event that also celebrates our diverse community, where so many people from different backgrounds can come together at one time and celebrate where we work and live and play.”
There are approximately 135 entrants in this year’s parade, from high school marching bands and cowboys and cowgirls on horseback to nonprofit organizations and car clubs like the Las Vegas Valley Model A Club. The city funds school groups’ participation, providing $1,500 to build a float and march in the parade, while school bands receive $1,000. A judging panel chooses favorites and the best band receives a $500 prize, with the best float receiving $500.
“I think it’s important to know our local history and it’s interesting how Las Vegas got started by its pioneers and families that have been here for generations,” says Chris Ringenbach, tour director for the Model A Club. “It’s a relatively new town compared to places we know back east.”
She and her husband have been in the local club since 1987 and moved to Las Vegas from the east coast in 1977. Ringenbach’s inlaws owned a Model T and brought it to the desert when they relocated from New Jersey in 1984. Her husband and father-in-law restored the car and joined the club, which participates in other parades and community events and meets for monthly breakfasts; maybe you’ve seen the caravan of vintage autos cruising through your neighborhood on the way to pancakes.
“We like Helldorado Days because it’s fun to celebrate the history of Las Vegas and our club likes that aspect. And it’s just fun to bring out the community, get local people to come Downtown and see all the groups,” Ringenbach says.
In Helldorado’s heyday while it was being produced by the Elks Lodge, the parade kicked off a week of rodeo events held at different Downtown locations. That was also the case when the city brought the event back 20 years ago, but in recent years, the rodeo element has been shifted to November at the Plaza Hotel’s nearby Core Arena.
Bigas says the city would love to rejoin the events but it’s unclear whether that works for the Plaza, and the spring-into-summer heat is a concern for the animals of the rodeo.
The recommended viewing location and grandstands for this year’s parade, starting at 10 a.m. on May 10, are at Fourth Street and Bridger Avenue, which will include shade structures added this year.
HELLDORADO DAYS PARADE May 10, 10 a.m., free. Downtown Las Vegas on Fourth Street between Gass and Stewart Avenues, lasvegasnevada.gov.
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