The St. Augustine Easter Parade was held this afternoon in a tradition which began in 1957 through the organization of the St. Augustine Easter Week Festival.
The family friendly parade is known as the Parada de los Caballos y Coches, Parade of Horses and Carriages, and features St. Augustine’s Royal Family, the Easter Bunny, clowns, drill teams, community floats and marching bands.
“Easter Sunday is a special day to honor spectators, participants and the hard-working team of volunteers who are credited for orchestrating this major area accomplishment,” Parade Director David Chatterton told Historic City News. “We enjoy putting on the parade for residents, and their families and friends who set up chairs and stand along the parade route. The opportunity to visit and share the excitement of the locally focused parade is a 60-year tradition in the Nation’s Oldest City.”
In addition to his duties as Parade Director of the St. Augustine Easter Week Festival, Chatterton is General Manager of Old Town Trolley Tours of St. Augustine.
The Parade’s two grand marshals graduated from St. Augustine-based high schools and are currently star kickers in the National Football League. Cairo Santos is a place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs and Caleb Sturgis is a place kicker for the Philadelphia Eagles. Santos attended St Joseph Academy and Sturgis attended St Augustine High School.
After the parade, Santos and Sturgis signed autographs at the St. Augustine Visitor Information Center, 10 West Castillo Drive. The grand marshals for this year’s parade are sponsored by Historic Tours of America and Old Town Trolley Tours of St. Augustine.
Photo credits: © 2017 Historic City News contributed photograph by Raphael Cosme
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