December 6, 2007

Confetti and Crowds

Excitement reigns at San Jose Holiday Parade

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Amid the hoopla and the hullabaloo, above, a group of dancers walk amidst the confetti near the end of this year’s San Jose Holiday Parade, held last Sunday on downtown streets. The two-plus hour parade drew at least 100,000 people downtown to enjoy a number of floats, celebrities and helium filled gigantic balloons. Photos by Kymberli Brady

Everyone loves a parade, especially a hometown event, and it was no different last Sunday when San Jose’s finest led off the annual Holiday Parade.

The cool and very windy day also saw some added excitement as some of the inflatable helium balloons—particularly Big Bird—managed to sway into poles as only a clumsy and very big inflatable bird can. There were no injuries to the characters and even Big Bird reportedly said he had fun “flying” down the streets of San Jose.

And there were plenty of people—dressed warmly—to see the 26th annual award-winning parade. At least 100,000 people showed up, many four to five deep along the parade route, with the majority being children, although there were plenty of kids at heart there too. And, many more were snug in their homes watching on television.

Disney Channel’s Monet, below right, entertained during the parade as well as the day before at the city’s Inflation Celebration.

Leading off the fun was the San Jose Police Department’s mounted unit along with San Jose firefighters. In a very subtle way it showed that the city is behind our safety in every way possible. The Cirque Du Soleil did an opening performance. That was followed by a number of school bands, dancers, floats—and the great big inflatables including a number of cartoon characters from Garfield and Odie to Spongebob Squarepants and his aquatic friend, a very large elf, a lion, Donald Duck, a Christmas tree with legs and Rocket J. Squirrel in an airplane.

There also were airplanes overhead, dancers, the grand marshal Mickey Mouse and the honorary grand marshal Reed Diamond from NBC’s “Journeyman” show, the U.S. Marine Corps Band and the San Jose State marching band, the San Jose city council members in a cable car, District Attorney Delores Carr in a stagecoach and other associated city officials and TV personalities from KNTV11 in convertibles and on floats as well as the mascots from the 49ers and the Sharks.

It was a day for merriment and joy. Among the floats were a number of dancers from studios around the city as well as the San Jose State Marching band.

But it was the last float that everyone was waiting for, and it hit the jackpot. Santa Claus showed up in his big red sleigh, sandwiched between two Nutcrackers with dancers all around!

A good number of people came early to Saturday’s eighth annual Inflation Cele-bration on Saturday, Dec. 1. From 3 to 7 p.m., these fans got to watch parade officials inflate the huge helium balloons in addition to seeing the floats close up and hearing special vocal performances by Disney Channel’s Monet and local musician Manuel Romero.

Some of the children were lucky enough to join Mrs. Claus at the second annual Mrs. Claus Breakfast Nook, presented by California Waste Solutions. Those attending got to visit with Mrs. Claus and eat breakfast as well as meet parade VIPs and some special costumed characters. They also got to sit in parade bleacher seating for the parade. The ticketed event’s proceeds benefit the parade.

Once the parade ended, those attending could visit ParadeFest@Christmas in the Park from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. That included parade special guests, musical entertainment, free giveaways from parade sponsors, a visit from the San Jose Fire Department Sharks Fire Engine and other activities. The activities ended with a live winter concert featuring the U.S. Marine Corps Band from San Diego.

The parade, which is recognized as one of the top 25 parades in the United States, is a program of the San Jose Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services along with Christmas in the Park and NBC11.