Describe a parade or street event that you watched

I'd like to describe a city-day parade that I watched last autumn in the town where I grew up. It happens every year, but I had been away for a long time, so I hadn't seen it since I was a child, and I took my little niece along this time.

We stood on the main street, about an hour before the parade began, to get a good place. By the time it started, both sides of the road were packed with families, and children were sitting on their parents' shoulders. First came a marching band in red uniforms, playing lively music, followed by groups of dancers wearing bright costumes. Then there were decorated vehicles, each representing a local school or business, with enormous paper flowers and giant cartoon characters. At one point, a group of old men on beautifully decorated horses rode past, and everybody clapped.

What I liked most was the friendly atmosphere. People who didn't know each other were smiling and chatting, and my niece was thrilled when a performer gave her a balloon. I also enjoyed seeing how much effort ordinary people had put into their costumes.

The only thing I didn't like was the noise and the crowds. We could hardly move after the parade ended, and it took nearly an hour to get back to the car. But on the whole, it was a wonderful afternoon, and it made me realise how much I'd missed that sense of community.