Lack of participants and a loss of sponsorships have forced the cancellation of this year’s Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade.

Not enough groups registered by the Oct. 1 sign-up deadline to make the Nov. 2 parade viable, said organizers from the nonprofit Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade in a Friday news release. It’s only the second time the parade has been canceled since its inaugural event in 2000. It was called off in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Whereas 87 groups participated last year, only 51 entries were confirmed for this year.

“It was quite a shock this year,” said the nonprofit’s president Roger Ehrke. “We had almost half of what we had last year. It was not financially feasible and would have cost approximately $1,000 per entry to go down the parade route. We only get so much money. All that money goes out to put on the parade.”

Participants have never been charged an entry fee since the event’s inception: “We didn’t think vets should pay to celebrate themselves,” Ehrke said.

Instead, the event, which costs about $50,000-$55,000 annually to host, relies on sponsors, including local businesses and individual contributors, to pay for costs associated with the parade, such as insurance, police support, waste removal and barriers.

The nonprofit received $28,000 from the city’s Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax (LART) for this year’s parade, according to the city’s chief communications officer Vanessa Zink. LART funding is for logistical and operational support, and in particular, public safety expenses, such as police officers and barriers.

The nonprofit did lose sponsors this year, which contributed to the financial pressure. Some organizations that used to be sponsors no longer exist, others have moved out of state, and others have told Ehrke their own financial concerns prevented them from making donations.

The annual parade gathers representatives from the area’s five military installations, military and veterans organizations, as well as JROTC, marching bands, and motorcycle and equestrian groups. Several years ago, about 45,000 spectators came out to watch 100 parade entries and 4,000 participants, Ehrke says. Last year only 9,000 people came out to watch. Parade organizers have noticed a marked decrease in participating groups, attendees and sponsors since the pandemic, they wrote in the news release Friday.

“We join many in our community who are saddened by the cancellation of this year’s Veterans Day parade and recognize this was a difficult decision for the event organizer and its board members,” wrote city spokeswoman Vanessa Zink in a statement Friday. The city is not responsible for parades.

“This decision is not a reflection of our community’s support for veterans. Colorado Springs is a proud military city, and we cherish the important role veterans, their spouses and families have in our community,” Zink wrote. “To community members looking to honor and recognize our veterans, we encourage you to learn about and support the wide variety of local veteran organizations in our community, like Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, Homefront Military Network, Wounded Warrior Project, and others.”

Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, a regular parade participant since 2016, was registered to march this year.

“I just hope this is not an indicator of a lack of support of the military and veterans communities in El Paso County and Colorado Springs,” said Mt. Carmel’s Director of Operations Paul Price. “We hope it comes back next year. We’ll be ready to participate.”

Barbara Harris, a board member with the Honor Flight of Southern Colorado, was shocked to learn the parade had been canceled. Typically, the nonprofit, which takes veterans to Washington D.C., participates in the annual event.

She believes a parade to honor Veterans Day is important, particularly considering the number of military installations and veterans in the Pikes Peak region. El Paso County is home to about 95,000 veterans.

“We need patriotism in this country right now,” Harris said. “Our country has been so divided politically we need something both sides can gravitate to and support and that’s supporting our military.”

Denver and Pueblo will hold Veterans Day Parades Nov. 9.

And American Legion PFC Floyd K Lindstrom Post 5 in the Springs still plans to host an open house Nov. 2 and an informal walk along the sidewalk with flags to mark the day, said Commander Andrea Finnegan-Fosse. The walk will start at 10 a.m. in front of the downtown post and she is expecting some privately-owned military vehicles will gather for the event.

As far as next year’s parade, right now it’s a tentative go.

“I hope next year we can get a handle on doing the parade,” Ehrke said. “Right now we’re still looking at doing one.”

Mary Shinn contributed to this story, mary.shinn@gazettedev.gazette.com.