EAST PEORIA, Ill. — The Clydesdales are back.
Weather permitting, the Budweiser horse mascots are scheduled to descend upon East Peoria for the 2019 Festival of Lights Parade of Lights.
2019’s Festival of Lights is the 35th annual such occasion.
East Peoria Public Relations Coordinator Jill Peterson said the milestone played a part in the decision to bring the Clydesdales back.
“When the organizers started this, no one imagined we’d still be going with a lighted parade 35 years later,” she said.
“So, we thought it would be the perfect time to bring the Clydesdales back.”
The Nov. 16 event would mark the fourth-ever appearance for the Clydesdales and the first since 2004.
Peterson remarked the parade has a built-in tie to the horses.
“We have a lighted Clydesdale float, and our float is the exact size of the Clydesdale horses and Clydesdale wagon, so it just seems perfect to have the Clydesdales in lighted form and in real form in our parade,” she said.
“I bet we’re probably the only people in the country who have a lighted Clydesdale float.”
Peterson said Brewers Distributing ponied up the money to sponsor the appearance.
In addition to the celebrity equine appearance, the parade is also scheduled to feature a 95-foot-long smoke-spewing Chinese dragon and a Starship Enterprise made up of 48,000 lights.
