Mon 9/5 @ 11AM
The 11th Congressional District Community Caucus Labor Day Parade & Festival is an old tradition — celebrating its 50th year this year — started by Congressman Louis Stokes, back when it was the 25th district, then continued by his successor Stephanie Tubbs Jones and by HER successor Marcia Fudge (Stokes returned to host in 2008 when Tubbs Jones died suddenly less than two weeks before the event).
It’s a big deal. In 2004, Tubbs Jones snagged then-presidential candidate John Kerry as headline speaker (he was warm, witty and not long-winded, contrary to the image the media was pushing of him), and in 2016, both Hillary Clinton and her running mate Tim Kaine appeared for Marcia Fudge, along with the national heads of THREE major unions AND Senator Sherrod Brown. That was the day Clinton had a coughing fit that sent the media into a frenzy of speculation about her health. She took a minute, drank some water and delivered a barnburner of a speech.
The parade is enormous, second only to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade downtown: it’s a must for candidates, who vie to have the largest delegation, and it’s packed with local businesses, drill teams, dance schools, fraternal organizations, high school bands, government agencies, Black fraternities and sororities, and more. Expect to see some of the folks running for statewide, as well as county and local offices.
Once the parade passes the reviewing stand, where Grand Marshall Congresswoman Shontel Brown will be overseeing things, outside Luke Easter Park, the action moves inside with food trucks (last year that included a vegan food truck!), vendors, tables from local organizations, and a kids’ area. There’ll be music by DJ Ellery and Lo-Key entertainment.
The parade steps off at 11am from East 147th and Kinsman, but it’s a long way to the reviewing stand. So if you come to Luke Easter Park at 11:30, you’ll probably be just in time to see the first delegations arrive. Plan to hang out and enjoy the day — and meet lots of judicial candidates!