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2008 Comcast Oakland Holiday Parade - America's Children's Parade

SCROLL DOWN FOR PICTURES OF THE 2008 COMCAST OAKLAND HOLIDAY PARADE!

Some 100,000 spectators watch ninth annual Oakland Holiday Parade

Sesame Street’s Bob McGrath, who has entertained millions of children and parents alike for 38 years as “Bob” on Sesame Street, was the grand marshal and led the order of march at the ninth annual Comcast Oakland Holiday Parade in downtown Oakland.

The parade, which is coined “America’s Children’s Parade,” contained more than 80 entertaining units, and marched down the streets of Oakland before some 100,000 spectators under sunny skies.

The parade has already become one of only three Christmas parades in America to be broadcast nationally. This year it is being picked up by public broadcasting stations throughout the nation and in parts of Canada, as well as by stations throughout California, including KTVU Fox Channel 2, by Comcast and Peralta TV, by KQED in San Francisco and by KTEH in San Jose.
The parade is managed by the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
McGrath was recently inducted into the 2002 Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He is the recipient of the American Eagle Award by the National Music Council and the Fame Award by the National Association of Music Educators for furthering the cause of music education.

Last year’s grand marshals, the “Raggs,” five delightful singing dogs that are now being featured on public television stations throughout the country, came back this year for another outstanding performance.

Another show-stopper was a performance by the Golden State “Warriors Jr. Jam,” sponsored by Southwest Airlines, a group of teenagers and young children who did a hip-hop brand of dancing right in front of the Southwest float.

Television commentary was handled by popular actor/entertainer Mark Curry, who has been making people laugh for more than two decades, and by Claudine Wong, a reporter for the KTVU Channel 2 News. An Oakland native, Curry is most famous for his starring role in the TV hit “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper.” He also had a recurring part as Robert Soulard, Drew’s boss, on “The Drew Carey Show,” and was the host of Comedy Central’s “Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush.”

Curry is currently the host of “Mark Curry’s Hot Monday Nights,” a weekly comedy show in the James Moore Theatre of the Oakland Museum of California. Now running every Monday night, the show features some of the area’s best comics.

The ninth annual Comcast Oakland Holiday Parade featured numerous high school marching bands (most of which marched 80-140 members or more), almost 40 children’s favorite cartoon and storybook characters, giant balloons, colorful floats, and Santa Claus himself.

Highlights of this year’s parade included:

Children’s characters such as Clifford the Big Red Dog, the Groovy Girls, Curious George, Madeline, Winnie the Pooh, and Six Flags stars Frosty the Snowman, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the Tasmanian Devil.

20’-50’ inflatable balloons hovering along the one-a-quarter-mile parade route, including Arthur and Hello Kitty.

A 45-member clown brigade consisting of local business executives.
Several beautiful floats

The Comcast America’s Children’s Parade is also a holiday championship for the marching band circuit, sanctioned by the Northern California Band Association. Among the award-winning bands that participated were the Fairfield Scarlet Brigade with 150 members, Napa High School, the Pittsburg High School Marching Pirates Show Band, and the Mission San Jose High School Band.

The parade truly is a national event, with parade items, entries and volunteers coming in from ten different states, and from as far away as Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

Comcast Float with Grand Marshall Bob McGrath