Celebs in town: Budweiser Clydesdales draw enormous crowd in downtown Lexington

Downtown Lexington was crowded to the gills Thursday around noon.

There were celebrities in town. Celebrity horses that is.

Budweiser’s iconic Clydesdales, the outsize beasts of burden that have served as key mascots for the ubiquitous American beer brand since the 1930s, took a turn around the core blocks of downtown. And a lot of people showed up to see it.

Crowds filled the sidewalks and the median along East Main Street, with many kids pulled out of school for the occasion. The horses were hauled into town on three branded tractor-trailers, carrying two drivers, the expected Dalmatian and beer for a ceremonial delivery at O’Hara’s Public House.

Attendees young and old clamored for photos of the horses, with several leaving with branded plush replicas, which Budweiser had available for purchase.

Several roads were be closed and traffic was rerouted for the Clydesdales to clomp around as part of their current promotional tour. Officers with the Lexington Police Department directed traffic at various intersections downtown during the parade.

The horses were staged in the Icehouse Amphitheater parking lot, where the public viewed them hitching and unhitching before and after the parade.