Fifty years of Parade of Homes, six years of digital growth
Since 1975, the Utah Valley Home Builders Association (UVHBA) has hosted the Utah Valley Parade of Homes, showcasing the county's best builders across Alpine, Highland, Provo, Lehi, Mapleton, and beyond. In 2020, UVHBA moved the Parade's ticketing, app, and website onto ParadeSmart — and in the six years since, the show has grown to 39 homes, 47,551 tickets sold, and three National Association of Home Builders "Best Parade of Homes in the Nation" awards, while visitors from 48 states plan their trips around it months in advance.
Partner since 2020
Before ParadeSmart: a familiar home show, managed by hand
UVHBA has been staging the Parade of Homes since 1975 — nearly a decade before most of its current staff were born, and two years after UVHBA itself was founded by Duane Herbert in 1973. But for most of that history, running it meant paper tickets, manual counts, and builder information that had to be typed once for the event and again for the printed program. By the time ParadeSmart entered the picture in 2020, UVHBA had already moved to a digital ticketing platform — one of just three on the market at the time — but was outgrowing it.
"The previous platform's app functioned well, and the product itself worked well. But we struggled with their customer service, which made things really difficult for us. We wanted a chance to improve, as we're always trying to do, so we made the move."
UVHBA left that platform on its own terms, ahead of its eventual shutdown, and brought its Parade of Homes to ParadeSmart in 2020 — a transition that also happened to fall in the same year the Parade added a virtual component for the first time, as a contingency against COVID-era uncertainty. The Parade never had to cancel. Both changes stuck.
A partnership that keeps evolving
What changed first was the website. Rather than juggling a separate ticketing vendor, a separate website, and a separate app, ParadeSmart gave UVHBA one dashboard that updates all three at once — under UVHBA's own Utah Valley Parade of Homes branding.
"The website was what was new for us — having ParadeSmart build everything into it. That was a game changer for our Parade, and it's still something I love about ParadeSmart."
That same responsiveness shows up in the day-to-day. UVHBA can start entering builder and home data in January — five to six months ahead of the June event — so out-of-state buyers know exactly what they're planning a trip around. Routine website changes, like a color update or a sponsor logo, typically turn around within half a day.
"Honestly, they're one of my favorite partners to work with during the Parade of Homes. They're fast, reliable, and efficient. I can have our data up five months before our event, so out-of-state visitors buying tickets to travel here know exactly what they're coming to see. That's huge for us. I want our website and our image to look like a multi-million-dollar home show — and it does."
UVHBA also credits the ParadeSmart support team directly — particularly longtime account contact Jessica, who UVHBA has worked with for years. "She's so fantastic — I love her," Amber said. "With a Parade that's this busy, having someone I can really rely on means everything. She's fabulous." The relationship runs both directions: ParadeSmart is currently preparing a new dashboard and a round of platform improvements, shaped in part by feedback from long-tenured clients like UVHBA, set to roll out once the busiest stretch of the 2026 event season wraps.
Growth & scale, by the numbers
Since 2020, nearly every metric UVHBA tracks has moved in the same direction. Ticket sales are up 60%, the Parade has grown from 24 to 39 featured homes, and 2026 alone brought a 16.7% jump in attendance and a 7.19% jump in ticket scans over the prior year.
Attendees keep touring deep into the show. Today, 61% of tickets are purchased directly online at uvparade.com, and the average ticket was scanned into 8.6 homes in 2026 — evidence that attendees aren't just buying a ticket, they're touring most of the Parade on each visit.
UVHBA attributes the growth less to any single tactic than to the compounding effect of quality, marketing, and word of mouth working together.
"That's a combination of everything, but I always think our biggest attribute is our builders. We have really good builders who've found their niche. This year we had a $50 million home — nobody gets that in a Parade of Homes — and probably ten more around $10 million each. That quality is really what attracts so many people, on top of the advertising and social media we've put together."
UVHBA has also found its ceiling, and made peace with it. Homes have held at roughly 40 for the past three to four years, by design. Parking around the featured homes, not demand, is what limits further growth.
"Right now, what holds us back from getting a lot bigger is parking. We pick up new people every year, but we're not looking to get a ton more attendees — we've maxed our homes at 40. I'm very pleased with where we stand."
National recognition, and a virtual Parade that travels farther than the cars do
The Utah Valley Parade of Homes has been named the National Association of Home Builders' "Best Parade of Homes in the Nation" three times — recognition UVHBA treats as both a credibility marker and a marketing asset its builder members can point to directly.
A three-time national winner. The Utah Valley Parade of Homes has taken the National Association of Home Builders' top honor three times — a distinction UVHBA and its builder members both point to directly in their own marketing.
"It's credibility, and it's marketing. We get to say we're a three-time winner, and the builders like that too — they get to say they were part of the best Parade in the nation."
Local coverage backs that scale up independently: the Daily Herald reported UVHBA's 2025 Parade at 41 homes, over 30,000 tickets sold, and an estimated half-million home visits across the run, while BYU's Daily Universe covered the 2026 Parade's roughly 40,000 attendees arriving from 49 states and multiple countries. UVHBA's own numbers echo the same story — tickets were purchased from 48 different states in 2026, led by Idaho, Arizona, and California, and Utah's own online ticket volume very nearly doubled year over year.
"I'm already talking to people from out of state asking when our 2027 Parade is, because they're planning to travel here. I noticed in this year's report that the numbers were about double in almost every state. The people traveling here are builders, designers, and other building-industry professionals who come to see what our builders are doing — we estimate 10 to 15% of our visitors are from out of state."
A meaningful share of that national reach traces back to the Virtual Parade, which UVHBA built out in 2020 as a hedge against having to cancel the in-person event. The Parade never closed, but the virtual option stuck around — and became a reach tool in its own right, drawing viewers from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, in addition to all 50 states.
"We don't make a lot of money off the virtual tours — that's not really the point. It's a marketing tool, and it's put our name on the map. It gives the event better credibility, and it's been really cool to see how it's helped other people too — the videographers and photographers we hire for it have seen their own businesses in the building industry boom because of it."
What it means for builders
For UVHBA's builder members, the Parade functions as a season-defining marketing event — leads, brand recognition, and for some, a genuine following. The scale varies enormously by home and location, but Amber says every participating builder walks away with something.
"Every builder gets some really good leads and is excited about what they get out of a Parade. The ones who've taken advantage of it year after year have built real name recognition. At our main home this year, we had 48,000 people go through it. Our smaller homes out west had 1,500 to 2,500 — but they were still very successful, because the people who went were interested in that price point and that area."
| Builder | Home | City | Total entries |
|---|---|---|---|
| McEwan Custom Homes | Oxford Road Estate | Provo | 44,384 |
| R.C. Dent Construction | York Manor | Alpine | 22,301 |
| Raykon Construction | Sunset Haven | Alpine | 22,084 |
| Hoyal Construction | The Legacy at Meadow Ridge | Highland | 21,460 |
| Construct Build Co | The House on the Rock | Alpine | 21,055 |
Oxford Road Estate's 44,384 entries were 57.8% ahead of 2025's top home, and year after year certain builders build a genuine following of their own.
"Casey with Raykon Construction has been there year after year — he has a following. Certain builders really have a style that keeps people coming back to see if they're in the Parade again. Parade builders are celebrities in Utah County."
Beyond ticket numbers: what the Parade means for Utah Valley
Ask Amber what the Parade means beyond attendance, and the answer turns quickly to community investment. A successful Parade season directly funds UVHBA's scholarship and community programs — support the association says it couldn't offer at the same scale without it.
"The biggest thing is creating interest in — and credibility for — the building industry. We were able to donate over a million dollars last year in scholarship funds, something we wouldn't be able to do had we not been so successful with the Parade. We support BYU, UVU, and Snow College, plus scholarships for our members' children, and Subcontractors for Santa. The Parade gives us the financial ability to do the things we love to do for our community."
A partnership built to keep growing
Six years in, UVHBA describes the relationship less as a vendor contract than an ongoing collaboration — one where feedback moves in both directions and the platform keeps pace with a Parade that hasn't stopped growing since 1975.
"I love ParadeSmart, and I will continue to refer people to them — I don't know of anyone more reliable or who has made my job easier."
Frequently asked questions
The Utah Valley Home Builders Association represents home building and trade professionals across Utah County — advocating for the local building industry and hosting the Utah Valley Parade of Homes among its signature member programs since 1975.
ParadeSmart is an all-in-one platform for HBA Parade of Homes events — digital ticketing, interactive maps, builder profiles, and analytics for 50+ associations across the U.S. and Canada.
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