Veteran’s Day Parade canceled in Portland due to lack of funds

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Portland will not have a Veteran’s Day Parade in 2025.

Organizers said the parade, originally set for Nov. 11 in Northeast Portland, was cancelled due to a lack of funding.

“We regret to announce that the 2025 Veteran’s Day Parade has been canceled,” organizers said on their website. “The Planning Team would like to thank all who have supported the Veteran’s Day Parade in the past, and will count on your support next year for 2026.”

The parade has been a community event for decades, spanning a mile from NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to N Beech and NE Emerson. It originally started in 1974, but was canceled for a couple years during the pandemic.

Napoleon Hodgers with the Portland chapter of the National Association for Black Veterans said he could not get sponsors this year. It costs about $20,000 to put on the parade.

He said it does not have to do with the national focus on the protests and military response in Portland. Rather, he believes it is the uncertainty of Portland’s business climate that caused donations to dry up.

“We WILL return with a stronger, renewed focus, to bring this important event that unites our community back to Portland! Again, we SINCERELY APPRECIATE all the support, and look forward to celebrating our proud shared heritage next year and beyond,” organizers said.

Meanwhile, there will be a Veteran’s Day parade on Tuesday at the Fort Vancouver Historical Site and another in Albany, Ore., which is billed as the “biggest in the West.”