Real parade

Much to the surprise of the cast and crew, a real parade was happening on the very same day the procession scene was scheduled to be filmed.

So, instead of setting up their own parade, the production team agreed to simply ask to film on the real one instead.

John Hughes recounted: "It was an actual parade which we put our float into unbeknownst to really anybody — all the people on the reviewing stand. Nobody knew what it was."