It’s almost time for one of my absolute favorite events in St. Louis: The People’s Joy Parade. This delightfully eclectic and amusingly bizarre display of talent, creativity, and pizazz winds its way through the streets of Benton Park West every year, coinciding with Cherokee Street’s big Cinco de Mayo celebration. If you’ve never been, it’s my goal to convince you to give it a try and to definitely take your kids!
What is the People’s Joy Parade? It’s a DIY affair that boasts a wide range of participants whose only real cohesive connection to one another is the joy of having a good time and marching through the streets. Where else can you find bicycle-riding Dobermans, arm wrestling ladies, a truck that blasts fire above the towering red brick buildings, and grinning kids handing out free books? Nowhere. That’s where.
The parade starts at 1:11pm (for good luck!) on the Saturday of the Cinco de Mayo celebration. This year, that will be on Saturday, May 4. It travels from Cherokee Street and then north from Nebraska to Utah before turning south on Texas and returning to Cherokee. The parade typically lasts a little over an hour and ends at the main stage in the middle of all the action. You can check the event’s Facebook page for updates before picking a place to stand!
One of the best things about this parade is how kid-friendly it is. This group is definitely energetic and full of personality, and they are incredibly welcoming and encouraging to young artists!
I spoke with Jenny Callen who has been coordinating the parade for about ten years. She says that this year they expect around 300-400 children to participate in many different ways. There will be a drumline and a group representing the St. Louis Language Immersion Spanish School.
Many of the people involved in the parade are committed to providing creative outlets for St. Louis kids year-round. Callen says that since art and music are some of the first things to get cut in schools, it’s great to provide opportunities for kids to sing and create things.
There is a group of children working with Artica to make tiny totems, mobile artworks crafted out of found objects that they can tow behind them in the parade and then take home!
Another kid-filled group is the Cherokee Street FOOTBEAT, which has local musician Celia Shack Attack at the helm. The all-ages group is a community choir that will be singing many familiar tunes as they march down the street in the People’s Joy Parade!
If all of this is sounding so awesome that you can’t be content to merely watch the parade, then you can be in it!
The founders are committed to keeping it accessible to everyone, so there’s no fee to join the parade, and you can even spontaneously show up at the staging lot at Cherokee and Minnesota (starting around noon). They’ll find a place for you and your kiddos! Donations of $25 per group and advance notice (especially for large groups) sent to [email protected] are most welcome.
I’ll definitely be taking my whole family out for this awesome event, and I hope to see you there—or maybe even see you marching by!
