A So-So Parade

In 2015 the James Bond movie "Spectre" began with a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City.  In fact, such an event had never been held in the city.  However, when viewers of the movie asked when the parade was going to held, the city government decided to organize one the following year.  The event has grown in popularity, and now attracts more than a million spectators and is televised on Mexican stations.  

The parade has usually been on the Saturday before Day of the Dead.  Last year the government fooled everyone (and probably angered a lot of tourists who had already made reservations) scheduling the parade on the Saturday AFTER Day of the Dead.  This year the holiday fell on Saturday, so the Day of the Dead parade was actually held on the Day of the Dead.

The last two years, Alejandro and I have had good luck finding a spot to view the parade along the Paseo de la Reforma near the Independence Monument.  We arrived about an hour before the parade was supposed to kick off from the entrance to Chapultepec Park, about 7/10 of a mile down the boulevard.  

This year we followed the same plan, but we found that there already was a crowd several rows deep in the area where we stood before.  However, across the street, there were some empty spots.  So we crossed the boulevard, and had a "front row" position right by the barricade.

The reason why there was not yet a crowd on that side of the street was because it was in the sun.  That was not a problem for us.  The forecast called for rain that afternoon, so we had  umbrellas with us.  We used them as shade while we waited for the parade to start.  After a while the skies grew cloudy, but it never rained.  It was not long before our side of the street filled up with crowds also.

In the distance you can see Chapultepec Castle.  The parade was supposed to leave from Chapultepec Park at 2 PM.

The crowd on the shady side of the boulevard

Just steps away from us TV Azteca had set up their camera for televising the event.

The parade must have begun on time, because by about 2:30 the parade had reached our spot along Reforma.

I have to say that I was not impressed by the parade.  I was thinking, "Have I become jaded?" or "Am I becoming a grumpy old man?"  But after it was over, Alejandro confirmed my opinion.  It was simply not that good.  We saw the parade twice in its early years, pre-pandemic.  It was truly a spectacular event.  The last three years that we have attended, the parade has not reached that same level, and we thought that this year was particularly mediocre.  It was simply a mish-mash of groups walking down the boulevard.  It lacked the polish, thematic unity, energy, and cinematic spectacle that the early parades had.

There is so much going on in Mexico City during this period of time.  I think that in the future we will forego the big parade and do other things.

Anyway, here are some of the best photos and videos that I got of a so-so event. (But if you look carefully at some of the photos, you 'll notice participants with their cell phones out, or carrying water bottles, purses or backpacks.  It's a ragtag look for what is supposed to be a world-class event.)

One group from Xalapa in the state of Veracruz has performed at many parades.  The women in their monarch butterfly skirts and the large, uniformed marching band retain some of the glitz and polish that used to characterize this parade.