NORTH MIAMI – The 2019 North Miami’s Thanksgiving Day Parade kicked off at 10 a.m. ET. The 45th annual edition of the event that has become a tradition among South Floridians who are looking to get into the holiday spirit, as Thanksgiving weekend also kicks off the holiday season in the United States. Participants started marching from the intersection of Northeast 4th Avenue on 125th St., as it made its way east to the 12th Avenue corner.
This festivity began in 1974. Considered one of the largest Thanksgiving Day parades in the state. North Miami Winter National Thanksgiving Parade featured a spectacular display of different elements, such as colorful floats, spectacular bands, entertaining dance groups this year.
The procession wound eight blocks and included lots of pickups, motorcycles, and cars which took part in the convoy, filled with floats, marching bands and cheerleaders from neighboring high schools.
Hundreds of spectators gathered along the eight-block parade route to cheer the participants and enjoy a family fun-filled morning. Many of them brought chairs to better enjoy the two-hour event, the only Thanksgiving parade held annually in Miami-Dade County.
Calvin Hughes, WPLG Local 10 Anchor, was asked by parade organizers to be the Grand Marshal for the 2019 North Miami Winter National Thanksgiving Parade. Ahead of the convoy, he cruised through downtown 125th Street in a sporty convertible, along with some of his family.
“It was amazing,” he said. “It was such an honor to have been asked.”
A squad of six North Miami police officers opened the parade, followed by a unit of four officers on motorcycle and four others one on bicycles. Three officers rode in Police SUV trucks and five on horses. It was a way to represent all the different units of the city’s police force.
North Miami Senior High School Band, Miami Heat Cheerleaders, Miami Xtreme Youth Football League Cheerleaders, Miss Villa Maria, Police Athletic League, and Miss Hispanidad USA were among the paraders.
The main stage was located on the south side of 8th avenue, next to the North Miami City Hall building, where many notable guests and members of the local government enjoyed the procession. The first citizen of the city, Mayor Philippe Bien-Aimé, City Clerk Vanessa Joseph, and former Mayor Andre Pierre took part in the parade. Mayor Bien-Aimé rode with some family members in a 2019 Convertible Audi A5 Premium Plus Cabriolet driven by a North Miami police officer, while former Mayor Pierre (with wife Bernadette and his oldest son) took part in the convoy aboard a red family four wheel bike.
The Winter National Thanksgiving Parade has played a central part in North Miami’s growth. The event is seen by many as an occasion to celebrate the city’s cultural diversity.
The North Miami Winter National Thanksgiving Parade represents the lives of thousands of people across Miami-Dade County and has done so for the past four-and-a-half decades.
The Haitian culture was more representative with the presence of the musicianship of Kreyol La, one of the most popular compas bands from Haiti, on the float closing the parade. It was a great opportunity for many young Haitian-Americans residing in the city and across, who never had the opportunity to have a feel of this band, especially the charismatic voice of lead singer Ti Joe Zenny on a float during Haiti’s carnival festivities in Champs de Mars Port-au-Prince’s main park.
As bystanders watched the floats pass by, a group of about 200 people, a majority of them Haitian, marched and danced joyfully alongside the truck. Mayor Philippe Bien-Aimé, City Clerk Vanessa Joseph, former mayor Andre Pierre, and former Florida State senator Daphne Campbell, who have Haitian roots, were seen on Kreyol La’s float, enjoying the good carnival vibe of the band.
Those elected and past-elected officials and other people abroad the pickup truck were visibly happy to be closer the float. There, as moving spectators, they could better enjoy the musical vibe of Kreyol La.
Sherly Isidor and her family came from Delray Beach, a coastal city in Palm Beach County, to revisit the parade she attended every year since 2012 while growing up in North Miami.
“Haitian float was always my favorite one in the parade,” said 23-year-old Isidor. “It’s a beautiful tradition to come out and experience the crowd.”
It was a first-time experience for her boyfriend, Donavan. For him, it was all about sharing the fun with his girlfriend’s close family.
Events like this one bridge the gap between different communities all calling South Florida home. It’s a time of fun, family, and a festive atmosphere that brings together people from vastly different cultural, political, and religious backgrounds to be united in the sense of true community. May the North Miami Winter National Thanksgiving Parade continue to be a beacon of light and hope as we head into the holiday season for many more years to come.
Dessalines Ferdinand / LE FLORIDIEN
