People wait 364 days of the year for the greatest African American cultural explosion of bands, music, marching units, drill teams that make up the Bud Billiken Parade on Chicago’s South Side.
The Bud Billiken Parade, the largest African American parade in the nation and the second largest overall to the Macy’s Parade, wrapped up the unofficial end of student summer with unadulterated flair as Steve Harvey and Valerie Jarrett provided star power.
Over a million spectators were strewn along both sides of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive for 15 blocks as an endless cavalcade of marching bands, educators, legislators, athletes and community leaders flooded the Brownsville street for the 81st edition of the parade on Chi-Town’s South Side.
Parade Grand Marshal Valerie Jarrett, an adviser to President Barack Obama, exhorted children to get an education, while announcers riding floats for local radio stations led chants of “stay in school” over booming bass lines. Comedian, actor and radio host Steve Harvey was posted strong along the parade route’s flank. Mayor Richard Daley leveraged the occasion to promote the pursuit of scholastic excellence.
“Education is the great equalizer,” he said.
Dr. Marc A. Sinstac, the board of directors of the Chicago Defender Charities that coordinate the event each year, says this is one of the city’s premier cultural events
“It is entertainment, it is young people, bands, marching units, drill units, color, energy that goes on and on forever,” said Sinstac, who coordinated the event in past years. “It’s captivating; it’s exciting to see young people who are so excited about performing for their friends, their neighbors, their families, for TV across the city and across the world. That’s what makes it so special.”
The event, which goes from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ends as the 100,000 participants and more than 1 million viewers spill into the gargantuan Washington Park for the climactic party. In 2006, approximately 26 million people watched the Bud Billiken Parade in person or on television. –terry shropshire
