Affectionately known as “The Bud,” the back-to-school celebration featured actor LaRoyce Hawkins as the grand marshal. Hawkins has had roles in “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.” and HBO’s “South Side.”

1929: The first Bud Billiken Parade was hosted by Chicago Defender founder Robert Sengstacke Abbott as a way to thank the children who hawked his newspaper. He could think of no better way than to give them the things they loved: ice cream, hot dogs and a day outdoors.

Saturday’s 96th parade celebrating the Black community shows the “longevity of the African American family and the support systems that the communities provide,” one regular parade-goer said.