San Francisco’s mild temperatures allow parades to be held any time of year. Since it was established in 1850, the City has hosted a parade when given an opportunity to celebrate. Most of today’s annual ethnic parades began as neighborhood events, turned into City events after the 1906 Earthquake and Fires[1] and became regional events after completion of the Bay Bridge[2] and Golden Gate Bridge[3].
Today there is an organized parade held almost every month of the year:
January: Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade and Festival[4] – Established in 1986, this event is a week long and held in SoMa.
February: Chinese New Year Parade[5] – Established in 1851 and considered one of the top ten parades in the world, the Chinese New Year Parade is the oldest and longest-running parade in the City’s history and features a 150 foot dragon weaving through the Financial District[6] and China Town[7].
March: Saint Patrick’s Day Parade[8]
April: Japan Town’s Cherry Blossom Festival and Parade[9] – Established in 1968, this event was established to preserve traditions and strengthen the bonds of friendship between the United States and Japan.
May: Carnaval Festival and Parade[10] – Established in 1975, this 2-day festival in the Mission District celebrates Latin American culture. In 2022, this event was the first neighborhood festival in the state to secure a permit to sell cannabis.
June: Pride Celebration and Parade[11] – Established in 1970, this two day celebration is held in the Civic Center. It has become the largest gathering of the LGBTQ community in the nation.
October: Italian Heritage Festival[12] (formerly known as the Columbus Day Parade) – Established in 1869, this parade travels through North Beach[13]. My grandfather, William “Brand” Filmer, used to like to tell the story of attending a Columbus Day Parade as a child in the 1910s when a very drunk Christopher Columbus fell off his horse.
November: Emporium Santa Parade[14] – This parade existed from 1927-1982 and while it is no longer held it gets an honorable mention because it was a very popular locally televised event. Santa arrived at the front of the Emporium on Market Street[15] on various modes of transportation including a sleigh, a motorcycle and a stage coach. In 1952 Santa outdid himself by coming down Powell in a chimney that had been precariously attached to the roof of a cable car.
Prior to the end of World War II[16] military parades were commonplace as a means of soldier preparedness and civic pride. The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization comprised of Civil War Union veterans. On August 4, 1886 GAR marched down Market Street under a “triumph arch”: a 77 foot wooden structure painted to look like stone and bedecked with statues, a monstrous eagle and lots of flags. Every hotel was full. Dishes such as “Pigeon a la Potomac” were served. Local businesses decorated their buildings with flags and bunting. Triumph Arches were a common site on Market Street throughout the late 1800s. On September 9, 1945, 500,000 people came to watch returning soldiers march around the Civic Center in celebration of the end of World War II. It would remain the most attended City event until 1982 when San Francisco had a parade for the 49er Super Bowl XVI win, and would be the last military parade to be held in the City.
In 1958 the longest Parade in time and distance was held to welcome the Giants to San Francisco. The procession went 4.6 miles from Seals Stadium[17] and through the Mission, SoMa and FiDi. 500 pounds of confetti were dropped on the players. The Giants would win their first game in San Francisco the following day. Between 1975-2014 there have been nine parades celebrating championship wins for the 49ers, the Giants and the Warriors.
One cannot write about San Francisco parades without mentioning my favorite: the Saint Stupid’s Day Parade held every year on April 1st and organized by the First Church of the Last Laugh. Established in 1978 and running through the usually austere Financial District, it includes confetti, flags and costumes.
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[1] 1906 Earthquake and Fires: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=2849 [2] Bay Bridge: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3306 [3] Golden Gate Bridge: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4916 [4] Visit them at https://norcalmlkfoundation.org [5] Visit them at https://chineseparade.com [6] Financial District: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4109 [7] China Town: story coming October 18th [8] St. Patrick’s Day Parade: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4592 [9] Visit them at https://sfcherryblossom.org [10] Visit them at https://carnavalsanfrancisco.org [11] Visit them at https://sfpride.org [12] Visit them at https://sfitalianheritage.org [13] North Beach: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=5026 [14] Emporium: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=3911 [15] Market Street: story coming July 26th [16] World War II: https://thesanfranciscophoenix.com/?p=4222 [17] Seals Stadium: story coming September 20th
