On Tuesday, January 20th, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick took the oath of office on the south steps of the State Capitol. A huge outdoors barbeque lunch followed the ceremony. That still left time to squeeze in a parade before the evening ball at the Austin Convention Center. I couldn’t attend the inauguration and I wasn’t invited to the ball. But I did walk over to see the parade.
The annual Austin Pride Parade is my favorite parade around here. Sure, the rainbow colors, twinkle lights, and outlandish costumes are contributing factors, but the high energy level of the participants and the spectators is quite contagious. You can’t help but have fun at this parade.
If it’s the first Saturday in February, then it must be time for the annual Boy Scout Report to State Parade. Each year, thousands of scouts and their leaders from all around Texas gather in Austin for this parade. For obvious reasons, Central Texas is well-represented, but an impressive number of units come from far-away towns like Amarillo, Port Arthur, and El Paso.
Last Saturday morning, large crowds lined both sides of Congress Avenue to watch the annual Chuy’s Christmas Parade. Continuing a tradition started 25 years ago, toys were collected for the Operation Blue Santa Program. About 30 minutes after starting, the entire parade was stopped while children piled up their toy donations on vehicles that were scattered throughout the lineup.
The marching band from Del Valle High School stepped off promptly at 9 AM to lead Austin’s Veteran’s Day parade north on Congress Avenue to the Texas State Capitol. A good-sized crowd clapped and cheered for the service men and women who have served our country. Even workers from the under-construction JW Marriott Hotel took a break to watch the parade go by.
The 2013 Austin Pride Parade attracted huge crowds as it slowly wound down Congress Avenue and across Fourth Street on Saturday evening. Rainbow-themed flag, balloons, and banners proclaimed this year’s theme, “Love Unites,” throughout this 2+ hour parade.
Pro-choice and pro-life protesters descended upon the state capitol today as the new special session of the Texas Legislature began. After State Senator Wendy Davis’ successful filibuster last week, Governor Rick Perry has called another session to again consider a bill to further restrict abortions.
Jo’s Easter Pet Parade has become one of our favorite Austin events. This year Bill and I arrived early enough to see the paraders coming down the South Congress Avenue sidewalk. Dogs and their humans followed a small brass band and the Easter Bunny to the parking lot behind Jo’s Coffee Shop.
How do we celebrate Texas Independence Day in Austin?
We run in the Texas Independence Day 5K, under a huge Lone Star flag.
The City of Austin hosted a parade to honor Iraq veterans on Saturday morning. Now this was not the most exciting parade to march through downtown Austin, but there were a few highlights to report…
The 36th Infantry Division band from the local National Guard unit at Camp Maybry entertained the spectators with peppy march tunes including that Austin favorite, “Deep in the Heart of Texas.”
Texas Rollergirls from the local flat-track roller derby league zigzagged their way up the street.
Supporters of both major political parties marched side by side on Congress Avenue, the Republicans on the left and Democrats on the right. Was this intentional?
The two guys next to me said that they were checking out the veterans job fair at the Texas State Capitol after the parade ended. While many towns and cities have been honoring veterans with parades, I’ve read that Austin is the first to combine a parade with employment assistance.