Everyone is invited to celebrate Las Vegas Helldorado Days by entering the annual community parade to be held Saturday evening, May 15, in downtown Las Vegas. This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of Las Vegas, an event central to the parade theme. The parade is watched every year by thousands of people lining the parade route, and will be broadcast live by Cox Communications on cable channel 96 and streamed online at www.Cox96.net. KCLV Channel 2 will re-broadcast the parade in the following days. A fireworks show will be launched from the Fremont Street Experience parking garage immediately after the parade.

The parade is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m., starting at Fourth Street and Gass Avenue. Community groups, businesses and individuals are encouraged to plan their floats and entries early. Car and motorcycle clubs, marching bands and other performing groups are invited to apply and participate. There is no fee to enter the parade, but entrants must submit an application no later than April 25. Applications are available on the city’s Web site at www.lasvegasnevada.gov/helldorado and from the city of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs at 401 S. Fourth St., Suite 180.

Entrants are encouraged to be creative in reflecting the traditional western heritage theme of past Helldorado Days, what they think Helldorado Days should mean now, and/or the birthday of the city of Las Vegas in their entries. Each parade entry will be announced at the reviewing stand and judged on appearance, theme and creativity. Winners will be notified after the parade. Costumes, entries and performances should be appropriate for a family audience. Entries with live animals must provide their own clean-up crew for droppings. In order to move down the parade route, floats must not exceed 14 feet in height or 20 feet in width.

For more information on the Helldorado parade, call (702) 229-6776.