Parade Day

This year, for some reason, the Day of the Dead Parade was held the Saturday after the Day of the Dead instead of the Saturday before.  The weather was perfect for the event with sunny skies and a high temperature of around 75 F.  Alejandro and I left the apartment around noon, took the Metrobus to the Paseo de la Reforma, and walked down the boulevard to find a good place to watch the parade.  We ended up in the same place we were last year, where Reforma circles around the Independence Monument.  There were some people in front of us, but I was taller that the little girl in front of me, so I basically had a front row position.  As time went on the crowds increased on both sides of the boulevard.

We took are places around 1:00 P.M., and the parade was scheduled to begin at the entrance to Chapultepec Park at 3:00.  By the time the parade reached us, it was about 3:30.

I had mixed feeling about the parade.  Last year's parade was fun, but it seemed too short.  It only lasted about an hour.  This year they seemed to make up for that.  The parade lasted two full hours.  (And my legs felt it after standing in place for so long!)  Even though we were relatively near to the beginning of the route, at times it seemed as if this year's event lacked energy.  Both Alejandro and I (and others) were upset by the fact that photographers (and not necessarily professional photojournalists with newspapers or TV stations) were in the street blocking our view.  Nevertheless, we had a good time.

Here are just a few photos and videos that I took of the parade...