This weekend, the country honors those who served in the military with Veterans Day celebrations, like the Boston Veterans Day Parade 2018.
Veterans Day originated as Armistice Day, celebrating the signing of the armistice between the German and Allied forces during World War I on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Nov. 11, 1918 is referred to as the end of “the war to end all wars,” and the 2018 holiday marks the 100th anniversary of this event.
Veterans Day is a Federal holiday, meaning it’s officially observed on Monday, Nov. 12, 2018, but the boston Veterans Day Parade takes place over the weekend. Here’s everything you need to know.
When is the Boston Veterans Day Parade 2018
The annual Boston Veterans Day Parade is Sunday, Nov. 11. The parade kicks off at 1 p.m.
“More than 22,000 veterans call Boston home,” Mayor Marty Walsh wrote in a column for the East Boston Times. “They embody a commitment to service that doesn’t disappear when they hang up their uniforms. When they come home, veterans continue to serve their community as leaders, parents, teachers, mentors, first responders, and more. Their valuable contributions make Boston a better place, and we should be thanking them each and every day for that.”
2018 Boston Veterans Day Parade Route, Street Closures
Marchers will gather for the Boston Veterans Day Parade at Boston Common. The parade will then go down Charles Street, turn left onto Boylston Street and take a right to City Hall Plaza.
Traffic will be detoured away from the parade route, city officials said, between 11:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Boston Police will be enforcing tow zone, no stopping special event parking restrictions on the following streets:
Boylston Street, both sides, Charles Street South to Tremont Street
Tremont Street, both sides, Cambridge Street to Boylston Street
Cambridge Street, both sides, driveway at City Hall Plaza to Tremont Street
City officials are encouraging people coming into Boston for the parade not to drive but to instead take public transportation (service information can be found at mbta.com), try a bikeshare service (information for Bluebikes can be found at bluebikes.com) or to walk.
Boston Veterans for Peace Parade 2018
Two Veterans Day parades actually take over Boston streets each year. The Veterans Day Parade for Peace, or the Veterans for Peace Parade, follows the same parade route after the first, more traditional Veterans Day Parade.
Veterans for Peace is an international organization of military veterans, military family members and allies who say they are dedicated to “building a culture of peace.” The organization has clashed with other veterans groups before — they were barred from participating in the Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade in 2018 and the Smedley Butler Brigade of Veterans for Peace in Boston has “long” been prohibited from the Boston Veterans Day parade, according to the group. For that reason, they have held their own Veterans for Peace parade on Nov. 11 for more than 20 years.
Veterans for Peace say that they want to focus on the armistice at the center of Armistice Day, not the “military industrial complex” or other uses of force overall.
The 2018 Veterans for Peace parade will gather at the corner of Charles and Beacon Streets between noon and 12:30 on Sunday, Nov. 11. This parade will follow the same route as the Boston Veterans Day parade, after the first event kicks off. It will continue to Faneuil Hall for an “Armistice Day for Peace Event” which includes veterans from different eras “who will recite original works of poetry, prose and song.”
