They love to go and see the horses or other animals in the parade. They love to see the marching bands, or the precision movement groups. They love to go and see a friend, or a group that they know, participating in the parade, or maybe somebody famous who is serving as grand marshal. They love to go to a parade just to be out of doors on a beautiful day, or maybe they love to go and eat the street vendor food. Some people go with a sense of joy knowing that if they sit down, they won't be able to see a thing, and if they stand up, their feet will ache at the end of the parade.
Some people go to a parade for a vicarious experience, a second-hand experience.
They go to watch other people who are watching the parade. About five or six feet away from us, up the parade route, was a young family. The father wasn't very tall. He had a little bald spot on his head. His wife was quite a bit taller than he was.