People just walked down the middle of street before February 24, 1868, when someone in New Orleans had the brainstorm to build a rolling stage for the Mardi Gras Parade, making today
NATIONAL PARADE FLOAT DAY!
Leave it to New Orleans, our most colorful and imaginative city, to invent a joyful spectacle to mark our favorite celebrations. Without parade floats, Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses Parade would just be a bunch of people marching with bouquets, and pop stars would have to lip-synch at street level at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Face it, no one’s there for the high school Drum & Bugle Corps, and parades would be pretty dull without the clowns, balloons and those beautiful floats. The idea was adapted from London of the Middle Ages, when barges decorated with religious scenes were floated down the Thames River to celebrate Corpus Christi, hence the name “float.” Hats off to our parade float designers, making Life’s Rich Pageant even richer.
•Suggested Activities: Cheering, waving, laughing and bustin’ some moves.