Disagree. I’ve been to enough elementary school ceremonies (both as a parent and as a presenter) and invariably you see the children peering out into the audience, hoping for a glimpse of their parents. I doubt the 5 year old can process that daddy is never coming home from work and would still be searching for him to be there. This was important IMHO.
Why is it such a good thing to introduce 5-year-olds to the public display "ceremonies" of life passages that are ... ordinary?? KINDERGARTEN graduation?!? You're training five-year-olds to attach anxiety and significance on others (looking for daddy in the audience and when he's not there, being disappointed) when an ORDINARY event passes. Please be honest enough to recognize that any public display celebration of something any normal kid does at such a young age, is ONLY for the adults.
Stop being so touch-feely and start thinking.