[6] Held annually on the city's south side on the second Saturday in August,[7][8] the parade route travels on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive through the Bronzeville and Washington Park[9] neighborhoods.

Robert S. Abbott, the founder and publisher of the Chicago Defender newspaper, created the fictional character of Bud Billiken, which he featured in a youth advice column in his paper.

It is considered the second largest parade in the United States,[11][12][13][14][15] whose focus is on celebrating youth, education, and African-American life.

The parade is also cited as the "back-to-school" celebration, marking the end of summer vacation and resuming of school for Chicago's youth.

[16][17][18] Bud Billiken is a fictional character created in 1923 by Abbott, who had been considering adding a youth section to the Chicago Defender newspaper.

During the early 1930s, names of international youth were listed in the "Bud Billiken" section of the newspaper every week.

[19] During the Great Depression, Abbott featured the Bud Billiken character in his newspaper as a symbol of pride, happiness and hope for black residents.

[20] Although the character was created in 1923, the parade did not begin until 1929, when David Kellum initiated it as a celebration of the "unity in diversity for the children of Chicago".

[19] The parade, which began on August 11, 1929,[4] now includes politicians, beauty queens, celebrities, musical performers, and dozens of marching, tumbling and dancing groups.

[20] It has grown from a locally sponsored event to one with major corporate presence and is seen as a signal of the impending end of summer and beginning of the new school year.

Complaints for north–south traffic flow caused rerouting the parade route to South Parkway (now named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), which runs directly into the park.

Dr. Marjorie Stewart Joyner, president of the Chicago Defender Charities, Inc., organized the parade for over 50 years.

Numerous high-profile celebrities and dignitaries have attended the parade over the years, including U.S. President Harry S. Truman,[21] Michael Jordan, Barack Obama, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall,[22] Oprah Winfrey, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Lena Horne, James Brown, Ethel Waters, Cab Calloway, Paul Robeson, Chaka Khan and Billie Holiday.

[20][4] Truman rode alongside John H. Sengstacke, who was Abbott's nephew and took over the Chicago Defender in 1948, and Mayor Richard J. Daley in the 1956 Parade.

[29] It takes place in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, starting at 35th Street [30] and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive at the southern border of the Douglas community area, south of the landmark Victory Monument.