Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Parade The Circle was cancelled in 2020 for the first time in its 31 years. Usually the event draws hundreds of paraders who spend months creating unique costumes and choreography, witnessed by tens of thousands of viewers.
This year, as a private event, some of the ensembles put on their costumes and paraded around the Ronald McDonald House, took photos with some of the kids, and did some parading among the public areas around University Circle. View the video here.
Some friends and families came with the paraders, but it wasn’t announced and it wasn’t official. In fact, for the first time ever, there were more people parading than watching.
Will Parade The Circle return in 2021? Some of the key artists who created and ran it are no longer involved. So we’ll all have to wait and see.