Pueblo holds second annual Spray in the Park on 4th of July to replace popular Pueblo West Wet Parade

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — Friday marked the second year without the wildly popular Wet Parade in Pueblo West; officials canceled it last year after concerns about safety and the resources needed to supervise it.

It's been replaced by Splash in The Park, an Independence Day event at Civic Center Park in Pueblo that includes a water fight, local food trucks, games for all ages, a Bubble Tower, and a fireworks show at dusk. 

The former Wet Parade dates back to the 1970s when a former fire chief sprayed water from a fire hose to cool spectators during a parade; it evolved into a large-scale community water battle that became known as the largest of its kind west of the Mississippi.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the parade in 2020 and 2021, and water shortages did the same in 2022.

The beloved parade returned in 2023, but brought renewed concerns about the use of unsafe items such as frozen water balloons and high-powered water guns; potential vehicle-pedestrian crashes, and insufficient staffing for providing crowd control and safety.

It's unclear whether the Wet Parade will ever return.