K-W Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade marches through Kitchener

The annual K-W Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade took over parts of downtown Kitchener and Waterloo on Monday.

570 NewsRadio Morning Anchors Christine Clark and Mark Douglas led the parade, talking to attendees along the way.

The spectacle featured Oktoberfest floats, a marching band and the collection of donations for the Food Bank of Waterloo Region, as part of the Onkel Hans Food Drive.

People by the thousands lined up along Weber Street on their Thanksgiving Monday to take in the sights and sounds.

Parade-goers also got a laugh seeing the inflatable Onkel Hans float pulled half over by the operators to get Hans’ head underneath the hydro lines across weber.

“Yeah, Onkel Hans needed a break for a minute there,” joked one parade fan, adding, he was maybe a little tipsy, to which a little girl in their group chimed in with, “Onkel Hans drank too much beer!”

Many people along the parade route spoke with 570 NewsRadio about coming out to each year’s parade for decades.

“This is tradition for our family. We’ve been doing this since about 1977, we never miss it. We love Oktoberfest!” shared one viewer.

Many parade-goers came out in heavy winter coats and touques – but the day stayed dry, and the sun came out to warm everybody up.

Everyone here at 570 NewsRadio, CHYM FM, and Country 106.7, who walked the parade route carrying donation collection buckets, would like to extend our thanks to the hundreds of people who made a cash or food donation to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region.