Pick your spot to watch DeSoto Heritage Grand Parade. We have a map of the route.

How big a deal is the DeSoto Heritage Grand Parade?

The population of Bradenton is a bit over 50,000. Every year, the parade attracts somewhere between 150,000 to 200,000 spectators. That’s about three or four times the normal population of the entire city and more than half the population of Manatee County.

This year’s parade — officially titled the Medallion Home DeSoto Heritage Parade — is scheduled for Saturday evening, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

It starts at Manatee High School and heads east on Manatee Avenue to downtown Bradenton. That’s kind of important to know even if you’re not planning on attending the parade because it means Manatee Avenue will be closed to traffic from U.S. 41 west to 44th Street West starting at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. It should reopen around midnight.

It’s the biggest parade of the year in Manatee County by far. It’s big enough that parade officials don’t see any need for it to get any bigger.

“It’s still in flux, but this year we’re looking to be about the same size, 150 units more or less,” said Tom Ivko, one of the chairmen for the 2017 Grand Parade. “The parade takes about 90 minutes to two hours to pass by you from start to finish at any one location.”

The crowd for the Grand Parade rivals or maybe even exceeds that for the more widely known Gasparilla Parade of Pirates in Tampa, Ivko said.

Obviously a lot of people come from outside Bradenton to watch the parade every year, but there are a lot of out-of-towners who are part of the parade itself. Dignitaries and krewes are coming from all over Florida, and as far away as Mississippi, Minnesota and South Dakota for the 2017 parade, and every year the DeSoto Heritage Parade hosts a delegation from Barcarrota, Bradenton’s sister city in Spain.

Bradenton officials take part in the Barcarrota parade and vice versa.

“I was there last year for the celebration 150th anniversary of their statue of Hernando de Soto in their Spanish courtyard,” Ivko said. “Our courtyard at the South Florida Museum, where our statue of Hernando de Soto is, is a representation of that courtyard.”

The Grand Marshal for this year’s parade is Brad Steube, the recently retired Manatee County Sheriff.

Details: 6:30 p.m. April 29, starting at Manatee High School, 902 33rd St. Court W., Bradenton. Free. 941-747-1998, desotohq.com.

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Pick your spot to watch DeSoto Heritage Grand Parade. We have a map of the route.."