It has to be the most eclectic parade in all Hawai'i.

On calendars, it's called the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. But it's more like a two-hour peace party that marches from one end of Waikiki to the other. Everyone's invited, whether you've got a rifle on your shoulder, thumb cymbals and robes, or you're towing a beer cooler with a sign protesting the war in Iraq.

The 19th annual version of the parade, which honors King's legacy of ethnic harmony and peace, was all that yesterday as it drew hundreds of enthusiastic onlookers.

It started at Ala Moana Beach Park and found its way to Kapi'olani Park for a unity rally complete with speeches, soul food and cotton candy.

"We come every year," said Gwen Scott, a Pearl City woman perched on a planter box along Kalakaua Avenue. "It's a chance for all people to come together and stand under the Martin Luther King banner. And that's what Hawai'i is all about, isn't it?"

Scott's good friend, Willie Bennerman, aka "Miss B," sat nearby on a folding chair and said she wouldn't miss this for anything. She took the day off special so she could attend.

"Dr. King was a great man for all people," she said. "It's important for me to honor him. He stood for freedom for all races. It's not just a black day. It's everybody's day."

If you saw the parade yesterday, you sure couldn't argue with that. It was freedom of speech with a flourish.

A group of Hawaiians led the parade, chanting "I ku mau mau," which is Hawaiian for "Stand together."

Right behind them, the Royal Hawaiian Band played "God Bless America." Loud.

The Hawai'i Republican Party brought marchers who blew soap bubbles. Hawai'i Democrats shouted "Aloha," two or three strides ahead of a United Public Workers member with a boom box blaring Gladys Knight singing "Midnight Train to Georgia."

There were sororities, fraternities, children pushed in strollers and a TV fitness guru flexing his biceps and throwing candy at the crowd.

Chrys Rosen, a Waikiki resident, considered the whole thing a worthy tribute to King. King changed the nation, made it possible for people to express themselves as never before, she said.

"It's more than a day off," she said of yesterday's parade and celebration. "Life wouldn't be the way it is today if he did not stand up saying we need to stand together."

For Keith McMillan, the parade ended too soon. He brought his wife and two daughters. They had never seen the King parade, Hawai'i-style.

"I think it was pretty good," he said. "Maybe it could have been longer, but I think the spirit of ... Dr. King was there. It was real nice."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.