Stamford Downtown Parade Spectacular

This past weekend was one that I look forward to year after year, the Stamford Downtown Parade Spectacular, and the Inflation Party the day before! I have been going to this event my entire life, and I was looking forward to doing so again this year. What makes this event even more special to me is the fact that many cousins who live in Connecticut and Long Island that I don’t see very often were also at the parade, and it was great to see them. 

When I got to the Inflation Party, I started off by doing what I always do when I first get there, look at the uninflated balloons that are laying on the road and then figuring out who they are, and for balloons that are still in their bags, look to see if I can find any words on the bag that will tell me which balloon is inside. I was a little worried at this time though, as not only was it going to be windy during the parade, but it was also windy at that time, and I saw what the wind could do to some of the balloons while they were still tied down, as the Peace Sign balloon got pushed to the side and Mr. Potato Head was literally blown off the road. I did get some reassurance from two of the people in charge there, who were both optimistic that the balloons would fly. This event was also the first time that I learned the UConn Husky has a name, which is Jonathan, after the first governor of Connecticut. I’m glad that I learned it when I did, otherwise I would have been very confused when I got the lineup for the parade or when I saw the banner when the balloon got to us. When I saw the balloons, I saw that they had a different Snowman balloon this year, which I thought looked very cute, but it also made me realize something very funny, which is that they have had a balloon called Snowman in four parades, and in those four parades, there have been three completely different Snowman balloons, and they have all been from the three different companies that they get balloons from. 

The next day was the parade, and while I was optimistic about the balloons flying, I was a little worried because of the gusts of wind that were happening at the time. I was also wondering if all the balloons were going to fly, as Oscar the Grouch was a tall balloon, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was the tallest balloon there and had four long legs We walked past where the balloons were while on our way to where we would watch the parade, to make sure that they were still inflated. Thankfully, all the balloons were either still inflated or on their way to being fully inflated. Something funny happened on our way past the balloons, as one of them was Elmo holding a fishbowl with his goldfish Dorothy, and my mom quickly pointed out that she was deflated, and as we got closer seconds later, she was perfectly inflated, which I find incredible as it was a short amount of time. 

When the parade started, I was excited, as I knew that all the balloons were going to fly, but I also knew that due to the size of some of them, some would probably be closer to the ground. But much to my surprise, all the balloons seemed to fly with no trouble at all. I was also impressed that the balloon handlers were able to spin almost all of them, which for those of you that don’t know, means that they were able to turn them in a perfect circle. I was also impressed that the handlers for Oscar the Grouch were able to spin him, as it looked like they were carrying him a special way because of the wind. There were so many great balloons this year, and I don’t know which one was my favorite, as almost all of them returned from previous years, and they are all balloons I’m familiar with, find great, and I think look cute. I especially liked Daniel Tiger, Snowman, Gingerbread Boy, and Shrek.

I was also surprised by how many of my cousins were there. I knew that my cousins who live in Connecticut were going to be there, because they are always there year after year, but I was not expecting my two cousins from Long Island who live in New York City to show up there, so that was a nice surprise, and it was just great seeing cousins that I don’t see that much. I was also excited that for the first time ever, one of my family members was in the parade, as my cousin’s daughter was part of the dance group Hoop Girls of Stamford.

Overall, this was another amazing year for the parade, and I am so glad that I got to experience it with my cousins and share it with all of you in this blog post and on social media!