San Jose Holiday Parade 2009

It’s unusual for me to be on the other side of the camera, yet on Sunday morning a television camera was pointed at me, and the panned to others in the front section waiting for the San Jose Holiday Parade to begin.

I was sitting shoulder to shoulder with others who had been waiting since 5 a.m. or earlier to get a seat right near where the main stage was, where acts would perform before and in between the paraders. Since I was not one of the lucky VIP ticket holders (who can be seen in the bleachers in the next photo), for a lot of the time the performers had their backs to me (so as also to have the right angles for television capture), however, it was a great show through and through.

When I last attended the parade, two years ago, I’d missed seeing Circ de Soleil. I had thought that they would travel along the parade route, yet apparently they, and other acts only perform on the stage. This year, having asked the right questions at the balloon Inflation party, I knew where to be so I saw it. Every year they bring a different act, this years was one with different poses with yo-yos.

Though Garfield was one of the balloons that was filled with helium at the Inflation Party, I was not able to stick around to see him inflated. On the day of the parade he, along with other balloons including a Jack in the Box, Oscar the Grouch and others, tended to twist and sink in the wind. When this happens the volunteer balloon escorts have to run around in a circle and right the balloon.

Sometimes even ecological messages find their way into the parade:

When I first saw this “Bring Back (Plastic) Bags” float, at first I was confused. I was racking my brain trying to remember if San Jose had banned plastic bags being given out in grocery stores the way San Francisco did. After a few moments I realized instead they were trying to get people to bring their plastic bags back in when they shop, which is a great idea. When I grocery shop I use cloth bags, which in my opinion are much stronger, anyway.

I remember asking where the Imperial Storm Troopers were as I had seen them two years ago in the parade. They did show up, with one wearing a Santa hat as usual. This year they also brought Darth Vader in a tank, and a Darth Vader balloon with a light saber that apparently had not fully inflated.

Many of the acts were floats with dancers including Harley Davidson’s Toys for Big Boys float and the United States Marine Corp’s Toys for Tots float.

One of the best parts about being so close to the stage was that the performers often came up close to us.  I especially enjoyed seeing Sharkie come riding out with the special Fire Department / San Jose Sharks Fire Engine.

There was also singing and dancing for a finale that involved dancers from six different groups. All the acts had had some confetti on them when they finished. The confetti just kept raining down at the end and these young ladies kept dancing through it all. What a great performance and parade it was.