Organized by the Heber Valley Chamber of Commerce, the roughly one-mile parade route started at 9 a.m. near 500 West and W. 300 South and looped through a downtown neighborhood. As it passed by Heber’s Main Street Park thousands of onlookers cheered with enthusiasm.
Brent and Mary Kelley led the parade in a horse and buggy as its first grand marshals.
“We decided we wanted someone who really tied into what we value here,” the Chamber’s Deputy Director Jessica Broadhead said. “The Kelley’s were the first people that came up, so that’s why they are our first grand marshals of the first ever Fourth of July parade for Heber Valley.”
Lifelong residents of Heber Valley, the Kellys are the founders of the Heber Valley Horse Sale and also played a role in the Heber Valley Cowboy Poetry.
“We’ve lived here all of our lives, and we’ve raised our family here, and the next move is going to be to the cemetery, in Midway. That’s our next move.”
In all, 32 local organizations and businesses entered the parade, showing off their American pride and their community spirit with floats, classic cars and riders on horseback. Also entered were the Heber City Police Department, the Heber Valley Fire Department and the Wasatch High Marching Band.
Wasatch High School Drumline Lead Snare Matt Blood said preparation for the 2025-26 year started in May.
“We really made an effort to practice a lot harder to make sure that we were learning our music to get ready for this parade, since it was coming up a lot sooner.”
The rest of the festival was packed with over 20 family-friendly events, including the annual patriotic march, a pancake breakfast, cornhole tournament and a root beer chugging contest.
Mahonri Ramirez and his family came from Saratoga Springs to join the Heber celebration and said they love the town’s environment.
“It's a very family-oriented activity,” he said. “We like it here, it’s nice, plus the weather, it’s wonderful here.”
Heber resident Katie Helie said she thinks it's great to see the small-town vibe every year at the festival because it's what people like.
Her son Danny competed in the chalk competition, drawing what he said was a flower that looks like it’s making music. He said Fourth of July is one of his favorite holidays.
“The festivals and this chalk competition, it’s very fun,” he said. “It’s very fun to watch the fireworks.”
Before the 10 p.m. fireworks show from Memorial Hill, a concert featuring award winning artist Joe Nichols was planned for the Wasatch County Event Complex rodeo grounds at 7 p.m.
