Junior Orange Bowl Parade To Roll Down Gables' Streets
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The 65th annual Junior Orange Bowl parade is set to roll down the streets of Coral Gables with a couple of new twists.
First is the date. This year it was moved to the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
"We hope that the new parade date will allow us to fill this year's parade with many new and exciting floats, cultural marching units and spectacular visual performers." said Parade Chair Kathleen Kauffman. "The new date offers the Coral Gables community a fun-filled and family oriented event during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend".
The second big change is that his year it has been moved to the evening, the parade will kick off at 6 p.m.
"With this event, parade participants will have the opportunity to showcase their talents under the lights through beautiful downtown Coral Gables," said Kauffman.
The move to evening will is being commemorated in the this year's theme "Illumination Spectacular."
The parade will feature a line up of more than 60 bands, floats, cheer groups, youth groups, cars and even airplanes. The march this year will be led by original members of the Tuskegee Airmen, who will serve as the Parade Grand Marshals.
The route of the parade will remain the same as units will begin the march at Alhambra Circle and Ponce de Leon Blvd and finish in front of the grandstand ticket holders and Coral Gables City Hall on Biltmore Way.
This year's parade will feature a pre and post parade show for grandstand ticket holders. Hip Hop Kidz and Miami Children's Chorus will kick off the festivities in front of Coral Gables City Hall with the pre-parade show and Focal Point Dance Group will perform for the post parade show to mark the end of the evening.
The annual Parade is the flagship event of the Junior Orange Bowl Festival Season, which consists of nearly 20 athletic, academic, and cultural youth events that are all held in South Florida.
