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Thanksgiving conspires to keep us indoors. There's the giant meal we prepare and then devour, relatives regaling us with stories and hours of TV football to watch. But before you're trapped inside, drop by Stamford's pre-Thanksgiving Balloon Inflation Party on November 20 and Holiday Parade on November 21, where you can let loose with pulse-racing entertainment and fresh air. On Saturday, from 11 a.m.to 3 p.m., stop by Hoyt Street at Summer, the venue for a backstage parade party. Live music and parade entertainers set the scene and give a hint of what's on tap for Sunday's spectacular. This party has a Cirque-tacular aerial act working its highwire magic as costumed characters cavort for spectators. All the while, giant balloons are inflating and coming to life, a show in itself.
On Sunday at noon, the 17th annual UBS Parade Spectacular, one of the country's largest, kicks off in downtown Stamford with its 18 giant helium balloons, including: Scooby Doo, Popeye, Bob the Builder, Elmo, Super Grover, Big Bird, The Cat in the Hat, Mr. Potato Head, Odie, Oscar the Grouch and Kermit the Frog. The parade's Grand Marshal is New York Knicks legend John Starks. Also on hand to shake things up, holiday-style, is Santa Claus, who'll boogey with the cast of the Stamford All-School Musical Hairspray. The 180 students from the Banda Pedro Luis Molina in Guatemala have flown in to entertain and the All-Catholic Schools Dance Team, under the direction of Kara Malloy of New Attitude Dance, will tap their way along the parade route. Entertainment, music, giant balloons and lavish floats create a memorable, holiday three ring circus. You'll have so much fun that, by Thanksgiving, you'll feel ready to settle in close to home. The parade begins at noon on Sunday, November 21, on Summer Street at Hoyt Street and concludes on Atlantic Street. Saturday's inflation party, at Hoyt Street at Summer, runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit Stamford Downtown's website.
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