2024 Days of ’47 parade float preview
Jul 22, 2024, 2:13 PM | Updated: 2:16 pm
SANDY — On Monday in Sandy, the Days of ‘47 Float Preview Party was underway at the Mountain America Expo Center.
This is a free event where all the floats can be seen up close before they make their way through Salt Lake City on Wednesday.
This year, there are 40 floats.
Twenty of them are designed by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while the other 20 are business and government floats.
All the attention to detail is thanks to those who have been working on the floats tirelessly for months.
The @TheDaysof47 Float Preview Party is happening today. This gives you a sneak peak of the floats for upcoming parade..
See them on @KSL5TV at noon… pic.twitter.com/xZN2poJ8pq
— Derek Petersen (@Derek_Photog) July 22, 2024
The Church assigns wards and stakes to help create floats for the parade.
Celebrating pioneer heritage, this year, the theme is “Stout Pioneer Hearts – Lift Others!”
A variety of Utah businesses were on display; some with moving parts are a lot to take in. It is one reason why Tom Colligan, who is going into his 30th year with the Pioneer Day parade, said by coming to the float preview party, one can really feel the heart behind each float.
“You got like 15 seconds of ‘em going by, and you can’t see all of the details. But you can here. And you can talk to the people who built them,” Colligan said.
In addition to the floats, there are clowns, face painters, balloon artists, entertainment and food.
It goes from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.