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Join a parade! (Parade advice and the 2026 Bergenfield, NJ St. Patrick’s Day parade)
Mar 16, 2026
Here’s what you can expect from parades, a tip or two, the real-time lineup, and a speeded-up parade run.
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0:01
[music]
0:03
Hi there. This is Dave and I'm here to
0:05
talk through this 2026 [music]
0:07
Bergenfield St. Patrick's Day parade and
0:10
basically go over some parade basics for
0:12
those of you who have classic cars but
0:14
don't take them out very often. Uh, as
0:16
you can see, the restored rusty relics
0:18
are here
0:20
to get some identification out there.
0:23
And you can see that mill will milling
0:24
around there's also a couple of bands,
0:26
two or [music] three bands really and
0:28
some other groups who are uh preparing.
0:31
So everybody starts showing up about 30
0:33
to 45 minutes before the parade starts.
0:36
Lineup time is usually you're supposed
0:38
to be there by half of an hour before
0:40
and then you basically hang out, you
0:42
socialize, you meet people, you talk to
0:44
people who you already know and you just
0:47
gather and have a good time. In this
0:50
case, the weather was only 38°.
0:53
You can see that this is a wide variety
0:55
of cars, and you don't have to worry
0:57
about what kind of car you have as long
0:58
as it's 25 years old. It can be mint
1:01
condition like that Monaco or that
1:03
Duster that we just saw. Uh it could be
1:06
built up and restored like that
1:08
Barracuda.
1:10
It can be uh in kind of questionable
1:14
shape like my Valiant, which is a good
1:15
parade car, but won't win any prizes
1:18
[music] at shows.
1:24
>> And the thing is that once you're
1:26
actually out there, as we'll see, you
1:29
know, people, they like the old [music]
1:31
cars. And it doesn't matter if it's a if
1:34
it's got a 440 in it or 426 Hemi or if
1:38
it's just got a humble slant 6.
1:41
They pretty much all get about the same
1:43
level of attention and [music]
1:44
appreciation.
1:48
[music]
1:51
Once you're in a parade, it's not like
1:53
going to the races or going to a show
1:55
where everybody's a muscle car
1:57
enthusiast.
1:59
Pretty much there's a lot of acceptance
2:01
and the people in the crowd just like
2:03
seeing the old cars.
2:12
And as you can see, you know, once you
2:14
get there, everybody goes in
2:21
and then it's pretty easy on the cars
2:23
and you get to go through all the red
2:24
lights you like, which can be fun. Uh,
2:26
in this case, the guy beh in front of
2:28
me, I'm not sure why, but he decided
2:30
really late to start up his engine and
2:32
get moving.
2:37
And here I go. And I found out that my
2:38
camera wasn't as firmly attached as I
2:40
thought. So, I got it going again. And
2:43
here we're going down the parade in the
2:44
middle of the road. And I'm going to
2:46
speed things up really fast because I
2:49
don't think that you want to spend
2:50
another uh 27 minutes watching a parade
2:53
in real time. But I'm going to keep the
2:56
sounds of the parade at their regular
2:58
level. And this this is one of the less
3:04
uh imaginative parade routes really
3:06
because basically you just get out onto
3:08
the main road and then you go from one
3:10
side of town to the other. They they had
3:13
a lot of people come out and just even
3:15
at the beginning which isn't anywhere
3:17
near the center of town, you can see
3:18
that the streets are pretty well lined.
3:23
Lots of kids. Most of the time they let
3:25
you take along candy to throw.
3:28
Now, one trick I do have for parades is
3:30
I actually turn down the idle on my car
3:33
so I'm not always hitting the brakes. I
3:36
do shift into neutral from time to time,
3:38
especially on a mild down slope. I don't
3:40
have to use drive at all. Um,
3:44
>> but I have the idle speed running around
3:47
600 RPM usually just because for parades
3:49
it makes it easier. You're not always on
3:51
the brakes.
3:54
It's nice to be in the middle of the
3:55
cars or in front of or well next to a
3:58
pipe band or some other band. That's
4:00
really nice. The ones I don't like
4:02
honestly are the sound trucks where they
4:04
blast out the same thing over and over
4:06
again.
4:08
It's It's funny how many people have
4:10
classic cars and never take them out
4:12
like this. You know, they might take
4:13
them out now and then to keep a warm up
4:15
and to get bulge parts off the tires,
4:17
but by all means, take it out for a
4:19
parade and share it. It's really nice.
4:21
It's not as much of a time commitment as
4:23
going to a car show. You know, it's a
4:25
nice day out for the cars. It's a nice
4:27
day out for the people. You get to meet
4:29
your fellow car owners. And start to
4:32
finish, it's a couple hours usually. So,
4:35
join your local parade. Find your local
4:37
car club. Join them. Take part in the
4:40
parade. It's a great thing to do.
5:30
That's a value.
5:40
Oh my god.
6:07
Look, guys.
6:36
>> [crying and screaming]
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