Holidays, historic occasions, themes, fruits, vegetables, sports, animals and all types of food are celebrated by costumed people marching down a street. In California, the Butter & Egg Parade in Petaluma, the Lighted Tractor Parade in Ferndale and Italian Heritage Parade (during fleet week in San Francisco) are all tributes to the region in which they are held. Have you been thinking about including a parade in your next event? Continue reading for professional tips to consider as you build your parade plan.
The behind-the-scenes coordination required to deliver a moving spectacle with high entertainment value takes months of preparation. “We start planning next year’s parade before this year’s takes place,” said Ray Pulver, owner and president of Upbeat Parade Productions.
Pulver has been producing parades for more than 30 years. From small-town parades to the large televised West Hollywood Pride Parade, Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade, and Fiesta Bowl Parade in Phoenix. His 2024 calendar already has 22 parades scheduled, including seven on the Fourth of July.
The Upbeat parade team consists of 30 people who travel to the parade cities. While a smaller parade may require a four-person team, the full troupe is on-site for the largest parades with up to 4,000 costumed participants, a crowd of 100,000 cheering onlookers, and a television audience that reaches hundreds of thousands.
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“When people think about parades, they think about costumes, floats and celebrities riding in convertibles. Rarely do they think about the audience’s experience,” said Pulver. “Along with my pre-parade production duties, my creative job is to assemble the parade units and line them up in an order that creates a visual story and delivers a message while it entertains the crowds from start to finish.”
Behind-the-scenes tips:
- Approval/permit(s): A single permit is a thing of the past. The key word with parades is “jurisdictions.” It’s not unusual for a parade route to cross from private property over city and county property to state property. That’s four jurisdictions who all want to ensure you’re following their guidelines. You’ll need buy-in from all four.
- Crowd and event accommodations: The authority(s) will determine services required to accommodate your crowd and event. First-aid stations, private security, police, fire, water, fencing, bleachers, restrooms, parking, signage, pre-parade notification to locals and garbage removal will all be needed for your attendees. Don’t forget, you’ll need similar (and often separate) accommodations for your staff, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, media, security, talent and parade participants.
By now you’ll recognize that many divisions within your parade jurisdiction(s) will be involved in the planning and staging of your parade. Think Knights of the Roundtable and you’ll have a good idea of the process.
- Celebrities, sports figures, and movie stars are a coup to the sponsor whose name is attached to the parade but can be a nightmare for the organizer. Even with special parking and a Green Room (celebrity holding area), celebrities often don’t allow enough time to reach the destination. Autograph seekers, paparazzi, media and general parade crowd mayhem requires trained handlers and security to wrangle talent.
- Get ready for picketing in 2024. Some parades do and some don’t allow politicians to participate. Election years can be especially disruptive. Review the parade entry units and assign extra security around identified units. Review the parade route and identify areas such as media and reviewing stands which might need added security.
- Sponsors require special attention. Consider special seating to watch the parade, distribution of parade branded products, private restroom facilities, food and beverage, parking and access to notables in the parade.
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Off-site team-building opportunities for the sponsor’s employees to participate as volunteers can be a win-win. They are typically assigned a high-profile position such as greeters at the Green Room or bleachers near the reviewing stand (where the parade judging takes place), media areas or in a location that allows interfacing with the sponsor’s target audience.
- No matter how many volunteers signed up, always expect no-shows. Assigning the volunteers in pairs provides the best results as partners help each other accomplish the task.
When a group of volunteers comes from an organization, identify a team leader to manage the group. In Palm Springs, eight neighborhood organizations are assigned as balloon handlers for eight hot-air holiday-themed balloons.
Parades are a long-standing tradition around the world, plus, they’re fun and exciting for a community. Their success is directly related to pre-planning efforts and providing entertainment that exceeds the crowd’s expectations.
“We just received notification that KTLA in Los Angeles was nominated for an Emmy award for Live Special Events—News for their coverage of the 2023 WeHo Pride Parade,” said Pulver. “It really does make a difference in the audience experience when you put on a good show.”
