Battle of The Flowers Parade and Fiesta Flambeau
The Battle of Flowers Parade is the oldest event and largest parade of Fiesta San Antonio, attracting crowds of more than 350,000 on the second Friday of Fiesta. It is the only parade in the United States produced entirely by women, all of whom are volunteers. These ladies, dressed on parade day in yellow and wearing yellow hats, direct operations with the assistance of the Army National Guard. Several school districts within San Antonio treat the day of the Battle of Flowers as a local holiday and subsequently don't have classes on that day.
As a present-day event, The Fiesta Flambeau Parade starts as the sun goes down on the second Saturday of the festival. The parade, dating from 1948, is illuminated by thousands of lights on the floats, dancers, horses, cars and even the band instruments. An estimated crowd of 600,000 filled the parade route to watch The Fiesta Flambeau Parade 2011.(KLRN TV)
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Carnival Flags—The Battle of Flowers, San Antonio (postcard, circa 1907-1911)
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On the way to the Battle of Flowers (postcard, circa 1907-1911)
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Popular float in the Battle of Flowers, San Antonio, Texas (postcard, circa 1907-1911)
Read more about this topic: Fiesta San Antonio
Famous quotes containing the words battle, flowers and/or parade:
“Napoleon said of Massena, that he was not himself until the battle began to go against him; then, when the dead began to fall in ranks around him, awoke his powers of combination, and he put on terror and victory as a robe.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Nature has from the first expanded the minute blossoms of the forest only toward the heavens, above men’s heads and unobserved by them. We see only the flowers that are under our feet in the meadows.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The parade was here, but it disappeared around a corner.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)