Torrance’s annual parade, celebration honoring US Armed Forces returns this weekend

62nd annual Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade and Celebration will highlight the U.S. Space Force.

The nation’s longest-running city-sponsored military parade will highlight the country’s newest branch — the U.S. Space Force — when it returns to Torrance later this week.

The 62nd annual Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade and Celebration will take place from Friday to Sunday, May 17-19; the nation celebrates Armed Forces Day on the third Saturday of May each year.

The highlight of Torrance’s celebration, as always, is the parade — one of only a handful nationwide sanctioned by the Department of Defense. The parade, which will take place on Saturday afternoon, May 18, typically attracts more than 100,000 people, all of whom converge on Torrance Boulevard to see the procession of service members, veterans and military vehicles. The parade will also feature flyovers

The accompanying weekend celebration, meanwhile, will take place outside the Del Amo Fashion Center and along Madrona Avenue. That celebration will include a lifestyle wing along Madrona, with military assets on display in the Del Amo Fashion Center parking lot east of that wing. There will be aircraft, vehicles and support equipment on display.

And on Friday evening, the party will move to the James R. Armstrong Theatre, which will host a free military concert.

The annual military celebration, Torrance Mayor George Chen said, is “a cherished tradition.”

“(The event) not only honors the bravery and sacrifice of our armed forces,” Chen said in a statement on the city’s website, “but also unites us in gratitude and patriotism.”

The parade — which went virtual for a few years, beginning in 2020, because of the pandemic but returned in 2023 — highlights a different branch of the U.S. Armed Forces each year.

And this year, the spotlight will be on the newest — and most-cosmic — branch.

“This year, we’re going to be honoring the service branch of the U.S. Space Force,” Chen said in an interview. “We look forward to a big turnout, just honoring all those who served in the military, present and past.”

The parade, which will also include a special flyover, will begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Crenshaw Boulevard, traveling west on Torrance Boulevard to Madrona Avenue. The parade should last about two hours.

Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant will serve as grant marshal of the parade.

Garrant is commander of U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force base in El Segundo. Space Systems Command is responsible for supporting the nation, its allies and warfighters with critical, timely and resilient space-based capabilities, according to the city’s website.

The honorary grand marshal is Michael Hopkins, a retired U.S. Space Force colonel and former NASA astronaut. Col. Mia L. Walsh, commander of Space Base Delta 3 at the Los Angeles Air Force Base, will serve as the senior ranking flag officer.

Besides the parade, Saturday will also feature the annual 5K For Freedom Run/Walk, which will begin at 8 a.m. at the Del Amo Fashion Center (Madrona Avenue entrance between Carson Street and Fashion Way). The 5K pays tribute to the late Louis Zamperini, a former Torrance resident who served as a captain in the U.S. Army Air Forces — the precursor to the Air Force — during World War II. Zamperini, the namesake of Torrance’s municipal airport, was also a track star who competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Participants can take part in the 5K as individuals or in a team. To register, go to Torrance5K.com.

Folks can run/walk alongside the Armed Forces participants. Finishers will receive an event T-Shirt and there will be medals up for grabs for the top-three finishers.

And the winning male and female runners will get another prize — riding in the parade.

If you go

Armed Forces Day Parade:

• When: 1:30-3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18.
• Where: Along Torrance Boulevard, from Crenshaw Boulevard to Madrona Avenue.
• Cost: Free

Armed Forces Day celebration:

• When: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
• Where: Del Ama Fashion Center parking lot east of the Lifestyle wing (along Madrona Avenue).
• Cost: Free.

Military concert:

• When: 7:30 p.m. Friday.
• Where: The James R. Armstrong Theatre, 3330 Civic Center Drive.
• Cost: Free, tickers required (limit four per adult, on a first come, first served basis).
• Information: 310-781-7171.

For more information on the Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade and Celebration, go to the city’s website.