The Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade & Celebration will once again take place at its traditional location on Torrance Boulevard in 2026 — after the City Council voted to reverse its decision to move the event’s location during a special meeting on Friday, Dec. 19.
The City Council narrowly approved a relocation of the annual celebration to the Torrance Municipal Airport on Tuesday, Dec. 2, citing concerns about declining attendance rates and rising costs to host the parade and accompanying celebrations each year.
The decision was a major one for the city. The Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade — which was founded in 1960 and is the longest-running Department of Defense-sanctioned municipal procession in the nation — has taken place along Torrance Boulevard every year; while the three-day military expo typically gets underway at a nearby Del Amo Fashion Center parking lot.
While the council’s vote to change the parade’s location to the Torrance Airport would have significantly reduced the event’s cost, it also would have created its own logistical challenges including attendee transportation issues and an airport shutdown.
The council’s decision was met with an outcry from Torrance residents, many of whom took to social media and emailed councilmembers urging them to reconsider the vote and return the parade to its traditional Torrance Boulevard location — as it has been for more than six decades.
The motion, put forward by Councilmember Sharon Kalani, asked the council “to hold the 2026 Armed Forces Day Parade celebration on Torrance Boulevard, and to allow staff, along with the Armed Forces Day Committee, to work out the details and bring it back in a very transparent way to the public.”
The motion was unanimously approved by the City Council — and met with applause by the members of the public in attendance on Friday, many of whom were veterans urging the council to return the parade to its original location.
Residents took to social media and emailed councilmembers, urging them to reconsider and keep the parade along Torrance Boulevard – as it has been for more than six decades
Steve Waggoner, a former U.S. Army Ranger, Vietnam War veteran and West High School graduate, was among those who spoke at Friday’s meeting.
“If you take this away from Torrance Boulevard, where it’s always been, you’re going to hurt many, many veterans and many, many families that have veterans, people that have died,” Waggoner said. “This is special. You move it over to the airport and you’re going to kill it. This is nostalgia. It’s been wonderful since 1960. Now you want to move it to the airport? Come on, have a heart.”
Some public speakers also argued that next year’s Armed Forces Day Parade will be even more meaningful to veterans and their families than usual, because 2026 will mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.
The traditional Torrance Boulevard route for next year’s parade, which is expected to cost around $454,000 — while the Torrance Airport option would have had an estimated cost of around $191,000 — is already fully funded, Mayor George Chen said during Friday’s meeting.
The reconsideration of the parade’s location came after some challenges with last year’s event, including lower attendance than usual and increased cost to the city due to heightened parade route security measures, a previous city staff report said.
While there may still be some challenges to work out before next year’s Armed Forces Day Parade, one thing is for sure — it will take place, as it has since 1960, along Torrance Boulevard.
The city has also launched a new website for the 2026 Armed Forces Day parade, torranceca.gov/afd, which City Manager Aram Chaparyan said will be used to communicate up-to-date information about the event with residents and solicit community feedback moving forward.