Thousands watch Ballard parade in record heat

With the temperature at a sweltering 88 degrees, half of Ballard turned out for the annual Norwegian Constitution Day Parade, also known as Syttende Mai.

The spots in the shade were the most popular, of course, with people arriving well before the parade to stake out a spot. We took our position in front of Cafe Besalu on 24th. Over on Market, there were even more people.

After the police drill team cleared the street, the Ballard High School marching band led the way down the center of 24th.

As is tradition, many parade participants wore folk clothing called “bunader” that reflect their respective regions of origin.

This guy, unbelievably, was wearing his Norwegian sweater in the heat.

The cutest costumes, of course, were those worn by the kids.

And the most popular part of the parade for the kids was the Shriners fire truck, which sprayed water into the crowd.

Oh, and the bags of bags of candy tossed on the ground. These little guys must have scored more candy than Halloween.

We have to admit, we’ve never seen so many unicyclists in one place. At least four different schools featured ’em (which explains why we kept seeing one of our neighbor kids practicing on his unicycle the last few days.)

All in all, the parade was a big hit, and everyone seemed to enjoy it despite the heat. More photos below, and our 3-minute video clip of the parade is here. And check out more pics from Seattle Daily Photo.