Day two of the three-day 33rd annual Ypsilanti Heritage Festival is in full swing and began with a parade Saturday morning through downtown Ypsilanti.

The festival spans from downtown to Depot Town, with Riverside Park crowded with tents and merchants selling everything from rubber band guns to euchre sets along the picturesque banks of the Huron River.

"All my grandkids were in the parade this morning," said Janice Boyer from Ypsilanti, who was visiting the Ypsilanti Senior Center booth which has a quilt raffle.

"We came out to see the parade," said Ebony Hargrove. "I like the food and my daughter likes the animals."

Her daughter, Aniya Browning, had just taken a ride on Gunner the camel, one of the attractions at the festival.

"It was bumpy on that camel and a little scary being up that high," said Aniya. Volunteer Lawrence Bryk said that many of the visitors he's spoken to want to visit the military re-enactment encampment.

Cathy Verburg, one of the participants at the encampment, came dressed as Rosie the Riveter.

"History is learned and understood better in three dimensions," she said.

Visitors to the military encampment can touch guns, tanks and uniforms and interact with people dressed in World War II uniforms like Jackie Osterberg, who was dressed as a member of the French Resistance.

"The Resistance was an underground organization to sabotage the Germans," she explained to visitors.

At the nearby tent hosted by Vietnam Veterans of Washtenaw County Chapter 310, donations were being collected for goods to send to soldiers overseas.

"We've sent more than 2,000 boxes to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan," said veteran Marv Rivers.

Saturday from 3-5 p.m., YpsiFesti Idol Finals takes place on the Main Stage at Riverside Park followed by music from the Horse Cave Trio from 6-8 p.m. Between 5 p.m. and midnight tonight in the beer garden is an Ypsilanti High reunion for all graduates over 21-years-old.

On Sunday there will be music on the Main Stage from noon-3 p.m., and the Eastern Michigan University-sponsored rubber duck race and raffle takes place at 5 p.m. in Riverside Park. Craft booths will also be open all day Sunday along with a Depot Town flea market, and an antiques appraisal event from 2-4 p.m. For a complete schedule, go to www.ypsilantiheritagefestival.com/schedule.htm.