The Holiday Bowl Parade in San Diego is one of the most fun parades anywhere!
I’ve got 123 photographs that prove it!
It rained downtown during the night, but it never seems to rain on this magical parade! Overcast skies in the morning were perfect for the 5K runners, who got started down Harbor Drive a few minutes before the Holiday Bowl Parade would commence.
And then the parade began!
Giant balloon characters floated by. Marching bands from near and far boomed and trumpeted past. There were dancers, baton twirlers, lowriders, cosplayers, and even a group with a humorous synchronized surfboard routine!
Of course, both the Oregon Ducks and the North Carolina Tar Heels had their large marching bands and enthusiastic cheerleaders waving from atop floats. Many in the crowd cheered when their favorite university competing in this year’s Holiday Bowl passed by.
You’ll see that I walked behind the convention center where the balloons were inflated before the parade, then found a good spot near the beginning of the parade route.
I’m sharing 123 photos–so many it would be a chore to caption them all. Simply enjoy!
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The Holiday Bowl block party in the Gaslamp Quarter (called the Snapdragon Bowl Bash) is happening this evening even as I post these photographs!
I walked down to the Gaslamp before the event officially began at 5 o’clock, and took a couple of easy laps up and down Fifth Avenue. As you can see, there were already lots of families and Oregon and North Carolina college football fans out and about, enjoying all sorts of fun activities!
Enjoy a glimpse of the big party!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
People were getting ready this morning in downtown San Diego for two upcoming Holiday Bowl events.
This evening’s “Snapdragon Bowl Bash” block party in the Gaslamp Quarter will feature a friendly Battle of the Bands. And tomorrow morning there’s the big Holiday Bowl Parade!
During my leisurely walk down Fifth Avenue and behind the San Diego Convention Center, I saw a few excited fans and people tasked with event preparation. Several floats were nearly ready at Embarcadero Marina Park South.
Two floats represent the Oregon Ducks and the North Carolina Tar Heels. They’re the teams playing in the 2022 Holiday Bowl. Petco Park will again be the unique venue, after last year’s disappointing cancellation of the game.
As I began to walk back toward the Gaslamp, a truck holding gigantic tubes of helium pulled up, presumably to fill the parade’s many character balloons. (I wonder how much the truck must weigh to not float away!) The Holiday Bowl Parade tomorrow morning will proceed down Harbor Drive past the convention center.
I’ll head back to the Gaslamp this evening for the Snapdragon Bowl Bash and the Battle of the Bands. I’ll try to take some fun photos!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Snapdragon Stadium in Mission Valley officially opened today! The SDSU Aztecs are beginning their 2022 football season today with a big game against Arizona!
Before the game, a fun, festive Aztec Village was attracting a huge crowd of students, cheerleaders and fans outside the new stadium!
I watched as thousands streamed in from the Stadium trolley station, which also opened today, after a long closure due to the surrounding construction. I noticed that the river park and other areas around Snapdragon Stadium are very far from completed.
I hope to check out the new San Diego River park with its James Hubbell public artwork once it opens! Stay tuned!
Meanwhile, enjoy photos of all the “Grand Opening Day” fun outside Snapdragon Stadium!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Very strangely, football goal posts rise in Petco Park near first base. (So reaching first must now mean three points!)
As I walked through Gallagher Square this morning, I saw this peculiar remnant from a football game that was never played. When UCLA backed out of the 2021 Holiday Bowl a few hours before the game, many were shocked and extremely disappointed.
I suppose we’ll soon see Petco Park back in its usual configuration.
An interesting experiment–playing a football game in this baseball ballpark–will now most likely never occur. SnapDragon Stadium in Mission Valley should be completed and ready for football by next holiday season.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
If you’ve driven down El Cajon Boulevard between 34th and 35th Street in the past couple months, you might have seen this incredible huge mural celebrating San Diego Chargers superstar linebacker Junior Seau!
The mural was painted in early May by the artists of Ground Floor Murals. (Two days ago I posted photos of their new Manny Machado mural in Chula Vista here.)
Junior Seau is one of San Diego’s most beloved sports heroes, an NFL football legend whose life ended tragically nine years ago. It’s hard for me to believe that almost a decade has passed already.
Ground Floor Murals is composed of Paul Jimenez and Signe Ditona, a couple who began painting murals in earnest during the COVID-19 pandemic. They now have many cool murals all around the city! Read their story at their website here.
Their awesome tribute to Junior Seau is located at the border of Normal Heights and City Heights.
If you’re wondering about the graffiti directly beneath the Junior Seau mural, that’s part of extensive new art that was spray painted in the past year or two along Flash Alley. Yesterday I also photographed the fantastic urban artwork along the long alley and I’ll be posting those pics shortly!
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The 2018 Holiday Bowl Parade headed down Harbor Drive the morning of New Year’s Eve. Chilly, drizzly weather couldn’t stop America’s Largest Balloon Parade!
It might’ve been a bit more chilly and breezy than usual for San Diego this New Year’s Eve morning, but the 2018 Holiday Bowl Parade was just as fun as ever!
The Port of San Diego Holiday Bowl Parade, which proceeded down Harbor Drive along the Embarcadero, is billed as America’s Largest Balloon Parade. This year the parade featured the two college football teams that are competing in the 2018 Holiday Bowl: Northwestern University and the University of Utah. The big bowl game is kicking off right as I post these photographs!
Without further ado, here we go!
Before the Holiday Bowl Parade began, three cool old biplanes made a fly-by. Trailing smoke is a 1941 Boeing Stearman; the other two are Great Lakes.
The Solar Turbines 5K run begins down Harbor Drive shortly before the parade.
Northwestern University and University of Utah fans wore their colors up and down the parade route.
Barricades are moved as the Holiday Bowl Parade is ready to begin!
First up is WorldStrides on Stage. They will perform the halftime show at the Holiday Bowl football game in the afternoon.
Another super fun Holiday Bowl Parade has begun!
The San Diego Harbor Police Honor Guard helps to lead things off.
Here comes Marine Band San Diego.
The first balloon is cheerful Cheri the Octopus!
And here comes Carter the Sea Turtle!
San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts waves from the Wonderfront float. San Diego’s waterfront is indeed full of wonders!
I wish I’d gotten a better pic of this funny group: The World-Famous Lawn Rangers! Their synchronized routine is so absurd you have to laugh out loud!
Here come the Shawnee Mission North Marching Indians from Overland Park, Kansas.
Pageantry and marching bands make any parade exciting!
That big balloon swimming under the clouds is Louie the Blue Whale!
And now I see good old Garfield! He’s giving somebody the thumbs up.
These are the Norris High School Marching Titans from Firth, Nebraska!
Next up is the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Bob the Builder has either lost his balance or the breezy weather had gotten the better of the balloon’s handlers!
Herencia Hispana comes down Harbor Drive wearing elaborate dresses and folk costumes!
Beautifully swirling Mexican dresses delight the eye.
Chinelos dancers were viewed with astonishment by many in the audience. It’s an unusual Mexican tradition popular in the state of Morelos.
Danza del los Diablos. Looks like devilish fun!
Another marching band! This one comes from Palo Verde Valley High School.
Go Padres!
That’s one gigantic, very happy Gingerbread Man! (Any relation to the friendly Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?)
Many in the audience suddenly became excited. Who is that approaching?
Here comes Northwestern University, one of the teams in the 2018 Holiday Bowl!
Banners twirl proudly!
Members of the Northwestern University Wildcat Marching Band thunder past!
Willie the Northwestern mascot is up on the purple and white float with some cheerleaders!
That’s one mighty big football!
Members of Sports for Exceptional Athletes demonstrate their skill during the parade.
Look! Here comes the University of Utah!
The Utes also had a big contingent in the Holiday Bowl Parade.
Swoop, the Utah mascot had a bit of trouble donning that Santa hat!
The red and white Utah Utes float with smiling cheer squad passes by.
The University of Utah Marching Utes all appear to be having a great time.
More college football pageantry.
Goodness! Here come even more balloons down Harbor Drive!
It’s Hog Heaven!
There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here! (My favorite.)
And here is the Deer Valley High School Marching Band!
Snowman is either tipping backward in the breezy weather or gradually melting.
The San Diego State University Marching Aztecs precede Nicholas the Nutcracker!
SDSU, a local university with a great sports history, marches with pride through downtown San Diego.
The San Diego Star Wars Society is always a sure hit with young and old alike in any parade!
Darth Vader says hello to someone watching the cool parade!
A tiny TIE fighter and tiny Star Wars characters!
Medieval fantasy follows futuristic fantasy. It’s Merlin the Wizard!
Even more fun balloons! I see a San Diego Zoo Panda!
It’s the beloved Very Hungry Caterpillar!
It’s Mother Goose. (She must be taking a break from her big annual parade out in El Cajon.)
More pageantry and excitement. It’s the Green Valley Marching Band!
Yikes! Here comes the scariest Holiday Bowl Parade balloon of them all! Tessa the T-Rex!
U.S. Naval Sea Cadets march past and receive many waves.
The parade program calls this balloon entry Saxophone. It sure is a big one, though!
The Bobcat Marching Band came to San Diego from Western Dubuque High School.
During a break in the parade I turned my camera toward San Diego Bay and captured the nearby Star of India.
From the world’s oldest active sailing ship to a space shuttle! This particular balloon Space Shuttle was taxiing down Harbor Drive on tiny wheels!
You know these guys simply had to be in the parade. It’s the Al Bahr Shrine and their Tin Lizzies.
Here come some Al Bahr Clowns.
I had fun! Did you?
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Like the mythical Atlas holding up the Earth, an incredibly strong person single-handedly shoulders the moon.
This morning I was astonished by the strange scene in the parking lot north of the County Administration Building.
I saw an incredible feat of strength, as a man lifted the moon with his shoulders . . .
I saw people engaged in giant pig tipping . . .
And I saw a monstrous shark about to take a bite of a strawberry ice cream cone!
Others might have observed people inflating a bunch of big balloons for the 2017 Holiday Bowl Parade.
Fun balloons were being inflated this morning near the County Administration Building for the 2017 Holiday Bowl Parade.
Putting together a festive parade takes a bit of hard work and careful organization, it appears.
This sunny San Diego float stood empty early in the morning on Harbor Drive.
Back in the parking lot where the Holiday Bowl Parade balloons were gradually being inflated, a snow globe containing Frosty was rising like magic into the blue San Diego sky.
I’ve heard of cow tipping, but these people seem to be tipping a giant pig.
A monstrous shark prepares to take a bite from an enormous strawberry ice cream cone!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Chargers football fans hold huge bolts for a photograph!
Here are a bunch of photos from today’s Chargers petition drive event in downtown San Diego. Our NFL team is seeking to have a new stadium built downtown, and a petition has been launched to put their proposal on the November ballot. The event brought several popular players and dignitaries to the spot where the proposed stadium would be built, and signature gatherers circulated among Chargers fans.
I had planned to check out a pop-up Shakespeare performance at the nearby Central Library at noon (I’ll blog about that shortly), but when I saw this rally was planned for eleven o’clock, I added it to my list of things to do! Personally, I enjoy watching the Chargers play on television on Sunday, but am not really a diehard fan. I agree it would be a shame to see them leave San Diego. They are a part of our history and community. I’m not especially passionate about any particular stadium proposal–either Mission Valley or downtown. As a downtown resident, a new football stadium nearby (which would also be used in conjunction with the San Diego Convention Center) would bring a lot of excitement into the neighborhood. It might also create certain inconveniences.
Today’s big Chargers petition drive kickoff intrigued me, not because I’m an advocate for any side, but because I’ve become more and more philosophical as I’ve grown older. It’s interesting to simply observe human behavior.
Lots of diehard Chargers fans were on hand Saturday for a big signature gathering kickoff sponsored by the San Diego Chargers organization, in their quest for a downtown stadium.
People arriving at the San Diego Chargers downtown stadium petition drive event are asked to add their signatures.
Petitions were being signed on the sidewalk along Park Boulevard, where many homeless people camp in San Diego.
Someone in the gathering crowd holds a Vote for Chargers Stadium sign.
One of several stations where people attending the event could sign the Chargers’ downtown stadium petition.
A videoboard showed various conceptual drawings of what the proposed downtown stadium would look like. It could also be used for conventions.
Camera people get ready for the heavily promoted event to begin.
A fan in a Chargers team jersey holds a poster that says Thank You 21. That was LaDainian Tomlinson’s number.
A fairly large crowd has gathered in the parking lot near Petco Park where Padres fans often tailgate. The proposed stadium would be built here.
A fan brought a football. Perhaps he was hoping for an autograph.
Footage of LaDainian Tomlinson’s football exploits was a big crowd pleaser.
Television news cameras and media photographers jam together to capture the Chargers’ downtown stadium petition publicity event. It seems everyone has a role to play.
Dean Spanos, team president and CEO of the National Football League’s San Diego Chargers team takes the stage. Pre-made signs intended to shame Mayor Kevin Faulconer rise in unison.
Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the National Football League, advocates for a new football stadium downtown.
LaDainian Tomlinson, one of the best running backs in NFL history, flew in from Texas for the event. He was clearly the crowd favorite and received loud cheers.
Philip Rivers, star quarterback of the San Diego Chargers, got the crowd excited during the petition event.
Several super fans take part in a “ceremonial first signing” on stage with the various dignitaries.
A blast of glitter and raised pom-poms from smiling San Diego Charger Girls cheerleaders as the rousing event comes to a conclusion.
After the event is over, someone holds up a cardboard Not Downtown poster. There are various interests on either side of the issue. Many people are passionate for one reason or another. And of course a lot of money is at stake.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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