Every July 4th, there's a great parade in Willimantic, CT - the Boom Box Parade. It's unique and totally inclusive; literally anyone can join, from political groups to the local food co-op, to the karate dojo kids and the Victorian house association, some dude on a skateboard, 4-H clubs, stilt walkers, local businesses, local weirdos, etc. Oh, and did I mention, there's no band, so you have to bring your boom box and tune to the local station - they broadcast the parade music and it fills the air. Very loony, very fun.
Anyway, the street is lined with folks in lawn chairs watching and cheering for people on floats. It USED to be that people on floats would bring super soakers and blast the crowd (in addition to throwing candy and beads), and the best of all was the Hosmer Mountain Soda Company - they had a water cannon in the back of their delivery truck, and they'd fill it with a couple of gallons of water and BLAST this huge squirt of water into the watching throngs. It was great, because of course it's usually around 90 degrees on July 4th in CT, so everyone enjoyed it and screamed and laughed and had a great time.
Or so we thought - a few years ago some lady got mad because their hair got wet, so now there's a rule against any kind of squirt guns or water balloons. Also no "throwing" candy (they can gently place it into a kid's hand). Thanks, you miserable old bag.