A sea of orange slowly ambled its way from the Kenilworth Road car park to St George's Square.
The open-top bus carrying Luton Town's play-off winning heroes stopped and started, police doing their upmost to clear excitable fans from its path.
At one point, hoards were running in tow on an A-road. That certainly was not in the council's pre-event plans.
But it could be said the slow, winding journey was an accurate depiction of the club itself. From promotion to the First Division in 1975 to non-League football between 2009 and 2014, it has been some ride.