Cinco de Mayo Parade 2012 - Detroit

Parade Highlights

The Start of the Parade

Probably the most difficult task was after the parade was over. That's when I realized that I had to edit all the video I shot from this year's Cinco de Mayo parade. Unfortunately, I had to cut out some parts because of time constraints, so my apologies if you were in the parade and didn't make it into this year's video. I had to make a some tough decisions, but I think you'll find that the video captures the atmosphere of a fun family event held in Southwest Detroit, home to a large Latino population.

Politicians
You'll notice a few politicians are in the video, and the political highlight for Detroit Video Daily was when Southfield's mayor, Brenda Lawrence, stopped by to greet the crowd. This was actually the second time I met Mayor Lawrence. The first, was years ago during her initial campaign for the mayoral office. She was outside a credit union passing out campaign literature and asked me if I was a Southfield resident; upon hearing my "no" reply, she still shook my hand and said hello. Not sure what she is like as a politician but she struck me then, as now, as a genuinely nice person. But don't read that as any political endorsement. :)

Police Incident
Right around the 11:30 mark in the video you'll see a lit bit of a commotion. What happened was one of the drivers of a muscle car (a few car clubs showed off their vehicles) spun his tires causing smoke and a loud squealing noise. Apparently, that's a big "no, no" and the police lining the sides of the parade route stepped in quickly and removed the driver from his car. If you look across to the other side of the street in the following scene you will see him being escorted away. One of the parade viewers near me explained to her friends the danger was that if he lost control of his car, it wouldn't have been a pretty scene. So hats off or should I say, sombreros off to the Detroit Police for quick action. Other than that very minor incident, there were no problems at my vantage point, which by the way was near the end of the parade route. All in all, the parade was nothing but good solid family fun.

Suggestions for Viewing
First don't be put off by the length of the video, it goes by fast IMHO (in my humble opinion). So mix yourself a margarita, pour up a Jarrito or a Dos Equis and maybe make a snack of chips and salsa then sit back and enjoy the highlights from the parade. ¡Viva México!

Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? What did you do? Leave a comment and let me know what I missed!