Throughout the parade, local clowns Flap Jack and Cup Cake could be seen riding around the street interacting with the kids and giving them candy.

GRANITE FALLS — With so many people lining the lawns and sidewalks for the Western Fest grand parade on Saturday, some people settled for putting their chairs on the road.

“I’ve been coming to the parade since 2013,” said attendee Nancy Cole. “I love it, they do a great job.”

Candy flew out honking firetrucks and police cars. The children sitting in the lawn, bags in hand, waiting for the cars to come by were now running to get what they could from the road — often in competition with one another.

For Nick Shrupp, the grand parade acted as a conclusion to Western Fest, and a way to spend time with his extended family. Living in Nevada, Shrupp doesn’t get to see his cousins every day, so he comes up north. The Western Fest is a great way to spend time with them.

“The Granite Falls rodeo is the best.” Shrupp said.

After the firetrucks, many floats representing some of the Western Fest events came by, from competitors in Miss Western Fest gracefully waving to the crowd, to the local high school marching band drumming away in American flag socks and couples sitting atop a trailer throwing wristbands and candy.

As the many cars and floats moved down the street, a small clown car could be seen driving across both sides, looping around and back and through again, giving out candy and interacting with children as they went. David Peterson and Teresa Frank played the clowns Flap Jack and Cupcake in the parade. They said they participated in the parade for free because Western Fest gave a generous donation to a charity they work with — Family Promise.

“We try to make ourselves as approachable as possible,” Frank said. “We never try to scare anyone, especially the kids.”