Friday is July 3, 2015, which means that the stroke of midnight signals the beginning of July 4th, and the start of the First Fourth of July Parade in the Nation. For the 40th year since the Bicentennial in 1976, the little City of Gatlinburg wakes up the United States with its annual Midnight Parade.
And what a parade it is! More than 100 floats, marching bands, entrants from surrounding states, groups, troupes, special vehicles and huge cartoon helium balloons spend around an hour and a half from midnight traveling the length of Parkway from Traffic Light 1a to Traffic Light 10.
