Sports on TV joins turkey, parade as holiday traditions
November 30, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Besides eating turkey and visiting with family, sports on television occupied the time of many Americans over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Some marquee contests led to some TV milestones, including the most-watched regular season pro football game ever and most-seen soccer game on American television, the Nielsen company said.
Gunshot during holiday festival prompts parade cancellation
November 26, 2022 GMTDAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A gunshot during a holiday festival in Dayton sent people running for safety and prompted cancellation of a parade minutes after it had started, authorities said.
A police sergeant on duty saw juveniles fighting and heard the shot fired shortly after 8 p.m.
High-flying balloon characters star in Thanksgiving parade
November 24, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Throngs of spectators lined the streets of New York on Thursday as colorful, high-flying balloons helped usher in the holiday season during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The annual tradition, which dates back nearly a century, packed streets as a procession of giant inflatables and floats streamed for more than 40 blocks from Central Park to Herald Square.
‘Bluey,’ ‘Funny Girl’ set for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
November 1, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — The debut of a giant “Bluey” balloon, Lea Michele and the Broadway cast of “Funny Girl” and the legendary Dionne Warwick are some of the highlights slated for this year's Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
120,000 parade at Taiwan Pride celebration despite rain
October 29, 2022 GMTTAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Some 120,000 paraded in the streets of Taipei as the city’s 20th annual Pride event celebrated the LGBTQ community Saturday in spite of the rainy weather.
The Taiwan Pride Parade began in 2003 with just 700 participants gathering in a park in central Taipei — most of them wearing face masks to avoid stigmatization.
New Orleans’ 2023 Mardi Gras parade routes to stay short
October 15, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Fans of New Orleans' Mardi Gras season can expect another year of shortened parade routes.
The Mayor's Mardi Gras Advisory Council said Thursday that the shorter routes of 2022 will continue in 2023, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
Gabby Giffords named grand marshal of 2023 Rose Parade
October 13, 2022 GMTPASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Gabby Giffords will serve as grand marshal of the 134th Rose Parade next year.
The former Democratic congresswoman from Arizona will ride down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena on Jan.
Mali marks independence day amid tensions, uncertainty
September 22, 2022 GMTBAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Malian authorities held a traditional military parade Thursday to make the country's first independence day celebration since French troops departed after nine years of fighting Islamic extremists in its one-time colony.
Parade and parties over, Avs focus on Stanley Cup defense
September 22, 2022 GMTDENVER (AP) — Erik Johnson just didn’t have enough hours in the day for all of the plans he had for his new companion, the Stanley Cup.
The veteran Colorado defenseman made the rounds the best he could this month as he celebrated the Avalanche’s first title since 2001.
Mexico’s military on display in independence celebrations
September 16, 2022 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Independence Day parade Friday had even more of a militaristic air this year coming just days after the relatively new National Guard was passed completely to the command of the military.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro skips Congress’ Independence celebration
September 8, 2022 GMTBRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro skipped a congressional celebration of the country’s independence bicentennial on Thursday, a day after he used the national festivities as a campaign event for his reelection.
Colorful West Indian Day parade returns to NYC streets
September 5, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — The steel bands and brightly colored costumes of Caribbean Carnival came back to the streets of New York City, with the West Indian American Day Parade taking place in person Monday after a pandemic-induced hiatus.
Notting Hill Carnival returns to London streets after hiatus
August 28, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — The annual Notting Hill Carnival has returned to the streets of London for the first time since 2019, with more than 1 million people expected to take in the music, spectacular parades, dancing and food offerings at Europe's largest street party on Sunday and Monday.
Pride on the canal: Huge crowds at Amsterdam water parade
August 6, 2022 GMTAMSTERDAM (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined Amsterdam's historic canals Saturday to celebrate Canal Parade, a Pride flotilla of 80 brightly decorated boats packed with people partying, singing and waving rainbow flags, balloons and umbrellas.
Black family sues Sesame Place, alleging discrimination
July 28, 2022 GMTPHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Baltimore family is suing a Sesame Street-themed amusement park for $25 million over claims of racial discrimination, alleging multiple costumed characters ignored a 5-year-old Black girl during a meet-and-greet event last month.
150,000 people march for LGBTQ rights in Berlin
July 23, 2022 GMTBERLIN (AP) — Draped in rainbow flags and touting signs, around 150,000 people marched for LGBTQ rights Saturday at Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day celebration, celebrating this year's parade theme “United in Love.”
Hurdler Camacho-Quinn cherishes Olympic gold for Puerto Rico
July 22, 2022 GMTEUGENE, Ore. (AP) — This was what winning an Olympic gold medal for Puerto Rico looked like for hurdler Jasmine Camacho-Quinn: Billboards around San Juan featuring only her first name. A festive, flag-waving parade just for her.
Sesame Place apologizes after Black girls snubbed at parade
July 20, 2022 GMTA Sesame Street-themed amusement park has apologized and promised more training for its employees after a video showing a costumed character waving off two 6-year-old Black girls during a parade went viral online.
South Korean capital celebrates 1st Pride parade in 3 years
July 16, 2022 GMTSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Thousands of gay rights supporters marched under heavy police guard in the South Korean capital on Saturday as they celebrated the city’s first major Pride parade in three years after a COVID-19 hiatus.
Ukraine plays special role in France’s Bastille Day parade
July 14, 2022 GMTPARIS (AP) — The war in Ukraine has even shaken up Bastille Day, a powerful political, historical and symbolic event in France.
France celebrated its national holiday Thursday with thousands of French troops marching down the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris alongside allies from Eastern Europe.
Black parade culture museum reopening in New Orleans
July 8, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ten months after Hurricane Ida damaged a museum celebrating New Orleans’ African American parading culture, the Backstreet Cultural Museum is reopening.
Cologne’s Pride parade draws upwards of 1 million in Germany
July 3, 2022 GMTCOLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Around 1 million people turned out for the Pride parade in the western German city of Cologne on Sunday, either to participate or to watch the colorful festivities.
Around 180 LGBTQ groups and music floats took part in the parade through the city center — more than ever before, German news agency dpa reported.
Parade of champs: Avs live it up as they celebrate Cup title
June 30, 2022 GMTDENVER (AP) — There was Nathan MacKinnon jumping off the fire truck so he could walk the streets and shake hands with the swarm of Avalanche fans.
After parade, work begins for Avs in bid to repeat as champs
June 29, 2022 GMTDENVER (AP) — Nazem Kadri will be jubilantly waving to the fans at the parade Thursday through the streets of Denver.
Possibly waving goodbye, too.
Some tough decisions loom for the Colorado Avalanche after dethroning the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.
Vermont unveils marker to highlight state’s 1st pride parade
June 26, 2022 GMTBURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — The state of Vermont is commemorating Sunday the state’s first lesbian and gay pride parade, which was held in Burlington in 1983.
The event in Burlington’s City Hall Park comes as parades celebrating LGBTQ pride are being held in some of America’s biggest cities.
With war, Kyiv pride parade becomes a peace march in Warsaw
June 25, 2022 GMTWARSAW, Poland (AP) — Ukraine's largest LGBTQ rights event, KyivPride, went ahead Saturday, although not on its native streets or as a celebration.
Brown introduced as Kings coach after helping Warriors win
June 22, 2022 GMTDuring a break between Golden State's Western Conference finals games against Dallas, then-Warriors top assistant Mike Brown jumped on a plane to San Diego to watch his new star De’Aaron Fox work out and take the Sacramento guard and his family to lunch.
Warriors cap title run, NBA flips the page to 2022-23 season
June 17, 2022 GMTA parade awaits in San Francisco to celebrate the champion Golden State Warriors. The NBA draft is a few days away, with presumed top-three picks Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero set to take their first steps toward realizing their enormous potential.
Machado homers in hit parade, Padres pelt Cubs 19-5.
June 16, 2022 GMTCHICAGO (AP) — Manny Machado lined a single for his 1,500th hit and hit a two-run homer in a four-RBI night to help the San Diego Padres beat the reeling Chicago Cubs 19-5 on Wednesday night.
Machado was one of five Padres with three hits as San Diego routed the Cubs for the second straight hot night at Wrigley Field.
Pride parade in Tel Aviv draws tens of thousands
June 10, 2022 GMTTEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tens of thousands of people attended this year's Pride Parade in Tel Aviv on Friday, celebrating the LGBTQ community and calling for equality in the largest annual gathering of its kind in the Middle East.
The party ends but the UK monarchy looks to the future
June 6, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — Extinguish the beacons, take down the stage, roll up the bunting. The party’s over.
After four days of parades, street parties and a gala concert celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne, the Platinum Jubilee celebrations ended Sunday with a queen's wave from Buckingham Palace and the crowds outside singing “God Save the Queen.”
Queen Elizabeth II’s jubilee evokes legacy of Tongan monarch
June 3, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — Tonga’s chief diplomat in the United Kingdom will be thinking about two monarchs this weekend as Britain and the Commonwealth celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
There is Elizabeth, of course, who will celebrate 70 years on the throne with four days of parades and pageantry.
Grand marshal’s big day: Leading Conn. parade, turning 105
May 30, 2022 GMTWESTPORT, Conn. (AP) — It’s an extra grand day for the grand marshal of Westport’s Memorial Day parade: It's her 105th birthday.
Jean Wells, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard Women’s Reserve in World War II, said she’s “deeply grateful” to be selected to lead Monday’s parade in the Connecticut community she’s called home since grade school.
City celebrates EPL title with Manchester parade
May 23, 2022 GMTMANCHESTER, England (AP) — Puffing on a cigar, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola celebrated his team's fourth English Premier League title in five seasons after a parade through the streets on Monday.
NYC to hold first Asian American and Pacific Islander parade
May 12, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — New York City will hold its first-ever Asian American and Pacific Islander Cultural and Heritage Parade in Manhattan this weekend, Mayor Eric Adams and event organizers announced Wednesday.
Russia marks WWII victory overshadowed by Ukraine
May 9, 2022 GMTMOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday sought to cast Moscow’s military action in Ukraine as a forced response to Western policies and a necessary move to ward off a potential aggression.
Patriotism, unease mix as Russia marks Victory Day in WWII
May 8, 2022 GMTRed Soviet flags and orange-and-black striped military ribbons are on display in Russian cities and towns. Neighborhoods are staging holiday concerts. Flowers are being laid by veterans' groups at monuments to the Great Patriotic War, as World War II is known in the country.
NYC’s first-ever Japanese heritage parade set for next month
April 27, 2022 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — People of Japanese descent are gearing up for their first-ever parade in New York City, taking their place among the lineup of groups that celebrate their heritage with marches through the United States' most populous city.
Corgis and Cars: Queen’s pageant to be parade of the people
April 26, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — During a long weekend of royal pageantry devoted to Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne, the British people will take center stage in at least one event.
More than 10,000 performers, including schoolchildren, community groups and military bands, are expecting to troop to Buckingham Palace on June 5 to cap four days of celebrations marking the queen's Platinum Jubilee.
N. Korea’s Kim vows to bolster nuke capability during parade
April 26, 2022 GMTSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to accelerate the development of nuclear weapons and threatened to use them if provoked in a speech he delivered at a military parade that featured powerful missiles capable of targeting the country's rivals, state media reported Tuesday.
N. Korea’s Kim vows to bolster nuke capability during parade
April 26, 2022 GMTSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to bolster his nuclear forces at “maximum speed” and threatened to use them if provoked in a speech he delivered during a military parade that featured powerful weapons systems targeting the United States and its allies, state media reported Tuesday.
Rio’s Carnival parade returns after long pandemic hiatus
April 23, 2022 GMTRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Colorful floats and flamboyant dancers are delighting tens of thousands jammed into Rio de Janeiro's iconic Sambadrome, putting on a delayed Carnival celebration after the pandemic halted the dazzling displays.
Rio’s dazzling Carnival parade resumes after pandemic hiatus
April 23, 2022 GMTRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro’s top samba schools began putting on their delayed Carnival parades late Friday, the first after a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19-pandemic.
The schools colorful floats and flamboyant dancers began entering the Sambadrome grounds to parade before tens of thousands of fans on the first evening of the two-night spectacle.
Rio’s Carnival parade is back, as street bands ache to party
April 20, 2022 GMTRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro's Mayor Eduardo Paes on Wednesday ceremonially handed control of the city to King Momo, a ritual representing the upheaval of the status quo -- but it remains to be seen how much post-pandemic partying is in store during the first Carnival in two years.
N. Korea marks key anniversary but no word on army parade
April 15, 2022 GMTSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Friday celebrated the milestone birth anniversary of its late founder with a mass dance, fireworks and calls for stronger loyalty to his grandson and current leader Kim Jong Un, but there was no word on an expected military parade amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.
South Carolina, Staley honored with downtown parade
April 13, 2022 GMTCOLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Thousands of fans filled the streets of downtown Columbia for a celebration of South Carolina's second women's basketball national championship Wednesday.
The Gamecocks won the title with a 64-49 victory over UConn in Minneapolis on April 3.
ABQ Pride votes to not let police join parade, festival
April 11, 2022 GMTALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Organizers of this year's Albuquerque gay Pride festivities have decided not to let the city's police department participate.
KOB-TV reports all but one member of the ABQ Pride Board approved a motion Sunday to prohibit police from having a parade float or a booth at Pride Fest.
Gibson strikes out 10, Castellanos homers, Phillies beat A’s
April 10, 2022 GMTPHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper choked back tears in front of family and Phillies teammates as he accepted the 2021 NL MVP trophy from Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.
Harper pulled it together and laughed as he told a packed ballpark, “You guys let us know when we suck, and when we’re really good.”
South Carolina’s NCAA title parade set for April 13
April 6, 2022 GMTCOLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina and its fans will celebrate the program's latest national title with a parade in downtown Columbia on April 13.
Columbia Mayor Daniel J.
‘We will SMASH you’: Dropkick Murphys feud with neo-Nazis
March 25, 2022 GMTThe Dropkick Murphys are hitting back against a neo-Nazi group that used one of the rock band's songs in a video posted on social media.
Greece: Independence Day parade held with spectators allowed
March 25, 2022 GMTATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thousands of people lined the streets in central Athens as fighter jets flew overhead and tanks rolled down the street outside Parliament during Greece’s independence day parade Friday, the first to be open to spectators in two years as coronavirus restrictions ease.
Little-known 1922 rule bans jazz in New Orleans schools
March 24, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — The school board in the city where jazz took root is preparing to undo a little-known 1922 rule that bans jazz music and dancing in public schools.
Officials tell The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate that the policy has racist origins, as its creators sought at the time to distance New Orleans schoolchildren from the African Americans who created the genre.
Pakistanis celebrate National Day with military parade
March 23, 2022 GMTISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistanis celebrated Wednesday their National Day with a military parade in the capital, Islamabad, showcasing this Islamic nation's elite army units and high-tech weaponry. On display were short, medium, and long-range missiles, tanks, fighter jets and other hardware.
Idaho dance group stuck in Ireland because of COVID-19
March 22, 2022 GMTCOEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — The Red Hot Mamas musical-comedy group from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, gave a well-received performance at the March 17 St. Patrick’s Festival Parade in Limerick, Ireland, but some members had to stay in the country longer than expected after testing positive for COVID-19.