Holiday Bowl Parade Brings Big Balloons to Bayfront

The annual big bay balloon parade will be taking place this year out of sight of San Diego Bay.

Holiday Bowl officials said the route for the event, which is attended by tens of thousands of San Diegans and thousands of out-of-town football fans, was altered, due to a cruise ship docking that day near the Broadway Pier.

This year's parade — officials say it's the largest balloon parade in the United States (including Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, in New York) — as is the matchup between the Oregon Ducks and North Carolina Tar Heels, is slated for Dec. 28, with the game being played this year at Petco Park. It's the first football game to be played at the iconic stadium in the East Village.

Also for the first time: The balloons and floats will stage at Embarcadero Marina Park South (near where the San Diego Symphony's Shell is located) and vehicles, bands and marchers will await on Harbor Drive south of Park Boulevard, stepping off at 10 a.m. from Harbor Drive just south of the convention center, headed northwest on Harbor Drive before terminating at Pacific Coast Highway at G Street.

The reason: The cruise ship terminal to the north of the parade terminus will be busy that day, and a parade will block any ingress and egress for the watercraft's thousands of passengers.

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There was a huge turnout last year for the Holiday Bowl Parade along the Embarcadero, with San Diego Bay as the backdrop, and crowds of people cheering on marching bands, low-riders and more. The route last year started at the San Diego County Administration Building, just south of Grape Street, on North Harbor Drive, then, continued south on Harbor Drive, ending pretty much in the same spot that this year's parade will conclude.

Sadly, last year's game was called off just hours before kickoff due to a coronavirus outbreak among the UCLA players. The Bruins had been set to face off against North Carolina State. COVID, of course, prompted the cancellation of the parade in 2020 as well.