Float used in Grande Days parade, 1948. Aquatennial Parade Floats[graphics], Sound and Visual Collection Call #I:3. Used with permission of the Hennepin County History Museum.

Dance contests were a perennial feature in early Aquatennials. Used with the permission of the Hennepin County History Museum.

A showman at heart, Hubert Humphrey was a frequent guest at the Aquatennial, typically sporting an all-white suit. Humphrey returned to the parade as vice president in 1966. Used with permission of the Hennepin County History Museum.

Along with the “Aqua Dears,” stunt divers, often former Olympic athletes, drew thousands to the Aqua Follies every year. Ticket sales to this show helped to subsidize free Aquatennial programming. Used with permission of the Hennepin County History Museum

After debate over whether the festival should be cancelled for the sake of wartime rationing, civic leaders concluded that the Aquatennial would be good for morale at home: 400,000 attended an “On To Victory” parade promoting war bonds.

Canoe teams prepare for the final leg of the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby, a 450-mile race down the Mississippi. Organizers planned the race so that teams would finish the final leg through downtown Minneapolis on the first day of the inaugural Aquatennial. Used with permission of the Hennepin County History Museum.

: Inaugural Queen of the Lakes Joyce Moen meets with movie and radio star Gene Autry, the world famous “singing cowboy” in CBS Radio’s Hollywood studio. Variety shows featuring celebrities like Bob Hope, Joe Lewis, the Chordettes, Carol Richards, Natalie Wood, Jimmy Stewart, and Jerry Mathers were main attractions for years. Used with permission of the Hennepin County History Museum.

Parade floats passing down a Minneapolis Street for Aquatennial's Grande Day Parade, 1960.

Several groups of St. Olaf College students coming down a hill on bobsleds, with the original Ytterboe Hall in the background, ca. 1900–1910. Courtesy of the St. Olaf College Archives, Northfield.