Grand Old Day is happening -- and preparations are underway for Sunday's parade and festival in St. Paul.

ST. PAUL - As the chair of Grand Old Day, Bob Lawrence will forever be thankful that local sponsors rallied to save the annual event with a heroic fundraising effort.

It all came together in the first week of May — which didn't leave much time for organizing.

"We took a deep breath," Lawrence said, "and said, 'now we've got a lot of work to do in four weeks.'"

Now, organizers are putting the finishing touches on Grand Old Day with last-minute preparations. They're pinning down exact locations for the parade lineup and working with vendors to make sure they're ready to handle a crowd of at least 200,000 people.

Barriers have already been placed along Grand Avenue, along with "No Parking" signs that take effect early Sunday morning for cars parked along the parade route.

"I think we're gonna be able to pull off one of the best Grand Old Days ever," Lawrence said.

One of the nation's largest one-day street festivals will feature new amenities in 2019.

Grand Old Day added early-morning yoga at the corner of Oxford and Grand, along with a "Weiner Dog Race" at noon in the kids' area. Plus, to make the event more family-friendly, children will be able to accompany their parents to the main music stage this year.

Teresa Vibar, the principal of Ramsey Middle School on Grand Ave., said she'll be marching with her school's band bright and early on Sunday. After the initial cancellation, the school had looked for alternate parades to march in this summer — but thankfully, the students will be able to perform for the crowd in St. Paul this weekend.

"We have six days left of school, and this is one of the culminating activities that our students really look forward to," Vibar said.

And she couldn't imagine the first weekend in June without Grand Old Day.