Hundreds gathered on University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto and surrounding blocks on Saturday, May 2, for the 93rd annual City of Palo Alto May Fete Children’s Parade.
This year’s theme was “No Space to Alienate” — a play on outer space and a call for kids to be themselves and welcome the uniqueness of others, according to parade organizers.
The grand marshall of the parade was Magaly Gonzalez Sipperley, a propulsion engineer at Space Systems Loral (SSL) in Palo Alto, which builds commercial satellites for companies like DIRECTV and Google’s Skybox Imaging.
Mayor Karen Holman escorted Palo Alto Perry, a 3-foot-tall stuffed donkey and the city’s newest ambassador, down University Avenue in the parade. The mascot is part of a new two-month social-media campaign in which people throughout the city will “host” Perry, taking pictures of him at neighborhood landmarks and leaving notes in his saddlebag detailing what they love about the city.
In addition to the classic categories of paraders — kids with wheels, kids with flags, kids with pets — the city’s high school robotics teams also participated in the parade, as well as anti-bullying groups such as Gunn High School’s “Not In Our Schools.”
To view a social media collection of photos from the event, visit the Weekly’s Storify page.
I can remember when the parade was called the “Pet Parade” with younsters pulling wagons carrying their dogs, cats ,rabbits etc aboard. It was a glorious event we await for all year.
The parade was fun years ago when the parade was called the Pet Parade. Children dressed up their dogs and decorated their bikes and wagons. Now the parade mostly consists of parents in tee shirts walking with their kids in the parade. Boring.
I agree with Gail. The parade used to be more interesting and fun with mostly kids in costumes or with pets marching down University; now it’s mostly parents with their children – not in costume – walking down the street. Totally boring. They should jazz it up – have contests between schools and clubs to see who can create the best floats and/or costumes.
My favorite part of the parade is listening to the marching bands. I remember when the kids wore uniforms; now they wear teeshirts and jeans. I miss the old days.
I don’t think it is even called a Children’s Parade anymore. Local businesses and institutions promoting themselves have taken it over. yawn.