Fiesta Bowl Parade draws crowds to central Phoenix
The Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Parade gathered onlookers on Saturday morning in central Phoenix. Some were aware the 51st edition parade was taking place. Others were pleasantly surprised. Holding her iPhone up to eye view, Renee Guerrero was on FaceTime with family. From home, relatives watched a giant balloon of Amelia the Airplane, the Phoenix Aviation Department's cartoony mascot. The giant silver plane with pouty, pink-colored lips and pilot silhouettes as pupils were among many lighthearted balloons and floats in the parade.
Guerrero was taking a break outside her workplace on Seventh Street. She was unaware the parade was going on until she had trouble getting to her job. She ended up parking blocks away.
"If I would have known it was happening today, I would have brought them," Guerrero said about family at home.
The parade precedes the Jan. 1 football matchup between Liberty University and the University of Oregon at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The parade started on Central Avenue near Bethany Home Road before wrapping around to Seventh Street and ending a few blocks near Indian School Road.
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Brandi Ayala, 46, was handed a small U.S. flag by a parade marcher dressed in a military uniform. Ayala's family arrived at the parade at 6:30 a.m. — three-and-a-half hours before the start. They would have to wait until the parade's 47th entry, where Ayala's 15-year-old daughter was marching with the Maricopa High School cheerleading team.
The sophomore had forgotten one of her pompoms, but her older sister, Faith Ayala, 19, woke from her morning sleep in Maricopa and drove to hand the girl her essential accessory.
The Fiesta Bowl's mascot, the sun-inspired Spirit, made an appearance. A giant balloon of his yellow head, grinning with a spike-like crown of red and orange rays, was pulled along the route. His presence appeared to welcome warmer sun rays on an autumn day of mild weather.
A dozen classic cars roared by, most of them appearing to be Studebakers with some decked out for Christmas. A couple of antique tractors followed not far behind as one operator spun in the farming vehicle. A few golden retrievers, and some labradoodles too, were walked in the parade by people with Rescue a Golden of Arizona, a nonprofit dedicated to getting homes for the canines.
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Jacob Leedom stopped at a Dutch Bros. on Seventh Street near Grand Canal Trail when he realized a parade was passing by. He dashed to the waist-high barricade temporarily placed several feet from the sidewalk. As he stood there, taking in the spectacle, Leedom spotted retired NBA forward Richard Jefferson as the ESPN analyst and former Arizona Wildcat rode atop a black convertible.
Leedom greeted Jefferson and asked for a selfie from afar, turning his back to the celebrated sports figure while pulling out his cellphone. "My phone's loading," Leedom said before snapping the photo as Jefferson smiled. Referencing Jefferson's social media presence, Leedom shouted, "Keep up the TikToks."
For others, the event was an outing to support a star in the family. Angel Torres, 47, sat patiently waiting for his 17-year-old daughter who was playing in Glendale's Mountain Ridge High School's marching band. This was the senior student's second year in the parade, but she was debuting a new instrument, the French horn-like mellophone.
Last year, she played the flute. That is all her dad remembers from the 2022 parade.
"I just came for my daughter," Torres said with a laugh.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fiesta Bowl Parade draws crowds to central Phoenix
