All of the holiday parades are great, you sit on the sidewalk and watch all the entrants go by you. It lasts a few hours and is quite entertaining.
There is another parade that happens once a year, but it actually has entrants that stay in place and all the spectators travel to create the "parade" through each location. This is the Parade of Homes, hosted by the Wilmington Caper Fear Home Builders Association. This year, there are over 40 homes on parade that will be open for viewing for 2 weekends - May 14-15 and May 21-22.