Downtown Chico, was lit up with rockets, bands and even baby sharks.

Chico held its 29th Annual Parade of Lights, Saturday, where high school bands, local businesses and families came out to show their talents and see who could shine the brightest.

In the pre-parade, parents lined the edges of the streets with lawn chairs, yelling at their children to be careful. Kiosks rolled around, selling glow sticks, bubbles, toy light swords and animal hats. People of all ages were dancing in the streets and kids were begging their parents to buy them glowing toys.

This year’s theme was Exploration: from Deep Sea to Deep Space. Starting between the corners of Starbucks and Jon and Bon’s Yogurt Shoppe, floats of many shapes and sizes came rolling through. Going along with the theme, there were rocket-floats with kids dressed as astronauts and ocean themed floats filled with little sharks. Local business like Silver Dollar BMX participated, with kids riding on their bikes and performing different types of tricks on them. Local school bands came marching through with roaring instruments.

Though the majority of the floats and marchers were organizations and businesses, there were many individuals that people cheered for, like the Woodson Family Space Float with their two kids riding in the back of a rocket. Also, one of Chico’s favorites Mike G, came riding through with a big smile and his dog Little G.

To learn more about the Parade of Lights and its history, you can visit its website.

Justin Jackson can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter @JustJack0176