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Nothing heralds the end of summer quite like the Bud Billiken Parade, Chicago.

Nicknamed “The Bud,” the parade has been a back-to-school celebration and showcase for Chicago’s talented young people since 1929. For four generations, the Sengstacke family has organized what it says is the largest African American parade in the United States and the second largest parade in the United States after the Rose Parade.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators and generations of families will gather along the two-mile route in Bronzeville Saturday to cheer on a variety of performers — bands, dance and drill teams, tumblers and cheerleaders — and watch honorary grand marshals and celebrities ride in style aboard floats and classic cars. At least one million more are expected to watch the parade’s live broadcast from 10 a.m.-noon on WLS-Ch. 7 and abc7chicago.com. And thousands of school supplies and other amenities will be handed out in Washington Park following the parade.

Before the parade kicks off, here’s a look back at some of the significant events and photos from its rich history. And, in case you’re wondering who Bud Billiken is, we get to the bottom of that, too.

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Photo gallery: Bud Billiken Parade highlights

Alderman Charlie Chew, left, and boxer Muhammad Ali ride in the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug. 9, 1975.
Alderman Charlie Chew, left, and boxer Muhammad Ali ride in the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug. 9, 1975.

Athletes, musicians and politicians have all participated in the parade since its founding, including President Harry Truman, then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, James Brown, the Supremes, Muhammad Ali, Chance the Rapper and countless film and television stars. See more photos.

At its roots, The Bud is a parade, and kids love a parade

The crowd watches the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug. 8, 1981.
The crowd watches the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug. 8, 1981.

A short history on how and why the Bud Billiken Parade was created. Read more.

Robert Sengstacke Abbott, parade co-founder

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Newspaper founder Robert Sengstacke Abbott, at right, stands outside The Chicago Defender's original building in Chicago, circa 1910s. Abbott championed the
Newspaper founder Robert Sengstacke Abbott, at right, stands outside The Chicago Defender’s original building in Chicago, circa 1910s. Abbott championed the “Great Northern Drive” through his newspaper.

Abbott started the newspaper he called “The World’s Greatest Weekly” on May 5, 1905, encouraging Black Americans born and raised in the South — like himself — to move north during the Great Migration of the 20th century. More than two thirds of the newspaper’s readership base was located outside of Chicago by the start of World War I, according to the Defender. Evolving from a weekly into a daily newspaper, the Defender became a national voice for African Americans, documenting racial inequality and championing the civil rights movement. The Defender ceased print publication in 2019, but still exists in a digital format at chicagodefender.com.

Abbott thanked the children who sold his newspaper on street corners by throwing a parade in their honor. He and Marjorie Stewart Joyner organized the first Bud Billiken Parade in 1929.

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Obituary for Robert S. Abbott (1870-1940)

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Marjorie Stewart Joyner, parade co-founder

Marjorie Stewart Joyner, second from left, receives an award from Ralph Newman, left, president of the Chicago Public Library Board, while John and Myrtle Sengstacke, right, look on in 1968. A beautician, civil rights activist, and political player, Joyner was recruited to head Chicago Defender Charities after Robert Abbott's death, administering the annual Bud Billiken Parade until she was in her 90s.
Marjorie Stewart Joyner, second from left, receives an award from Ralph Newman, left, president of the Chicago Public Library Board, while John and Myrtle Sengstacke, right, look on in 1968. A beautician, civil rights activist, and political player, Joyner was recruited to head Chicago Defender Charities after Robert Abbott’s death, administering the annual Bud Billiken Parade until she was in her 90s.

“The first parade was just a matter of people carrying picnic baskets and bundles of food and walking to Washington Park,” Marjorie Stewart Joyner, who was there on that warm, sunny day in 1929, told the Tribune in 1990. She was also the first African-American woman to receive a U.S. patent for a permanent hair-waving machine in 1926; chairwoman of Chicago Defender Charities and continued as a parade organizer for six decades before her death in 1994. Read more.

”When Billie Holliday sang in Chicago, Dr. Joyner did her hair. She gave gospel singer Marian Anderson her first haircut”

“I guess what I didn’t realize then, though, was that I had done something more than just invent a way to do black women’s hair.”

Obituary for Marjorie Stewart Joyner (1896-1994)

Who is Bud Billiken?

Bud Billiken first appeared on the Defender Junior page in the Chicago Defender on April 2, 1921.
Bud Billiken first appeared on the Defender Junior page in the Chicago Defender on April 2, 1921.

In 1921, the Chicago Defender started publishing a section called the Defender Junior, run by a fictional editor named Bud Billiken. Billiken was really … Read more.

From the Chicago Public Library: Bud Billiken’s pseudonym explained

Op-ed: The Defender Junior and other publications gave Black children a voice

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