Overview:
Commerce City's Memorial Day Parade returns on May 25th, with generations of Colorado families honoring fallen service members.
For generations of families in Commerce City, Memorial Day has meant more than the unofficial start of summer.
It has meant waking up early, heading toward 64th Avenue, and claiming a spot along the curb before the first fire trucks, horses, veterans groups, and marching units roll past in the parade. It has meant seeing neighbors gather in front yards, children wave, and families return year after year to honor those who died in service to the country.
“I’ve been in the parade a lot,” said Debra Bullock, president of the Commerce City Historical Society, with a laugh. “All the organizations that I’ve been involved with usually walked in the parade.”
Now celebrating its 60th year, the Commerce City Memorial Day Parade is one of the city’s longest-running traditions and one of Colorado’s largest Memorial Day events. This year’s parade begins Monday, May 25, following an 8:45 a.m. ceremony honoring fallen service members at the Veterans Memorial on the north end of Veterans Memorial Park, 6015 Forest Drive.
“There’s always been a lot of military pride and those ties with the military community,” said Travis Huntington, the city’s community relations manager. “It’s really grown to become a favorite community tradition. It’s something everybody looks forward to and celebrates.”
Huntington said the parade’s roots are closely tied to Commerce City’s history, including the presence of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, which once operated as a U.S. Army installation near the city.
That military connection still shapes the event today. The 1.5-mile parade route begins at East 64th Avenue and Newport Street, travels west on East 64th Avenue to Holly Street, turns south to East 62nd Avenue, continues west on Parkway Drive, and ends just past Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, near Vasquez Boulevard. The route itself has become part of the tradition.
“Having the parade end at the veterans’ monument is very intentional,” Huntington said. “We’ve always celebrated the fact that the route goes right through the heart of Commerce City,” Huntington said.
“The route has been pretty consistent since the ‘70s,” Bullock said. “The memorial, the old dog track, and when they built the rec center in ‘87, all of that kind of kept the route in that location.”
Some details have faded since the parade first started in 1964. Bullock remembers when the city painted its logo directly onto the street before the parade, a visible sign that Memorial Day weekend had arrived in Commerce City. She remembers also when the day centered mostly on the parade itself before families returned home for backyard gatherings.
“We used to go to the parade and have a barbecue afterward with family,” Bullock said. “Clean your porch off, have a barbecue — the start of summer.”
This year’s grand marshal is Devan Romero, a Colorado Army National Guard member who has served since 2012. Romero, a Colorado native, moved to Commerce City with his family in 2022, and this will be his first time attending the city’s Memorial Day Parade.
The celebration stretches beyond the parade route. After the parade, around 11:30 a.m., the city will host a community celebration with food trucks, family activities, and live music from Groove N Motion and Funkiphino. Kids and families can also enjoy activities including a rock wall, face painting, and balloon art.
“It’s probably an all-day thing now as opposed to just the parade and going home,” Bullock said.
Huntington said the city intentionally expanded the event to give residents and visitors more reasons to stay and connect after the parade ends.
“There was a desire to say, ‘We have all these people here in the community for the parade — let’s give them something to do after the parade ends,’” Huntington said.
Bullock said the atmosphere has changed as Commerce City has grown and longtime residents have moved away or died. In earlier decades, she remembers families who lived along the route filling their front yards with relatives and friends.
“A lot of families that lived along the parade route — all their families would come over and sit in the front yard,” Bullock said. “They’ve all moved away or passed away, so that’s the difference.”
Still, the tradition continues in new ways. Bullock is now a grandmother, and her own family still gathers for the event.
“My grandchildren come down, and we still gather together,” she said. “They go to the parade or even walk in the parade sometimes.”
For many residents, the Memorial Day Parade remains one of the few annual events that brings the whole city together: veterans, families, civic groups, schoolchildren, and neighbors lining the route from start to finish.
“As long as people feel like it’s special, then that will endure,” Huntington said. “Watching people gather on the curb early in the morning before the parade even begins — it just makes it feel special.”
