‘For 36-year-old Krystal Bryan, this year’s Charro Days Fiesta theme — ”Come Home to Charro Days” — was a poignant reminder of her history with the festivities as she brought her three children and her husband from their Houston home back to her hometown.
As she danced with her son in a parking lot to a Selena song played by a passing float, the Grand International Parade was in full swing Saturday afternoon on Elizabeth Street. The rest of her family watched the parade curled up with blankets against the 40-degree weather on the open bed of a pickup truck.
“We come every year — it’s tradition,” she said.
The parade is a beloved attraction in the annual Charro Days Fiesta celebration, which began in 1938 to boost the local economy struggling after nine years of the Great Depression.
This year is the first time the organization has been able to bring the events back to in-person after 2021’s virtual Charro Days Fiesta due to COVID-19 precautions. Previously the fiesta had only been canceled once before in 1945 due to World War II.
With hundreds of brightly decorated floats, dancers, marching bands, vehicles and performers — and a lot of fingers crossed by the Charro Days Fiesta who continued monitoring the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city up to kickoff day on Feb. 19 — the event filled Elizabeth Street with spectators eager to see and enjoy the parade.
Actor Roy Frank “RJ” Mitte III, best known for his role as Walt Jr. in the AMC series “Breaking Bad,” served as the Parade Marshall and waved from the back of a convertible at spectators as he was driven up Elizabeth Street.
Spectators also received a welcome and unique surprise as SpaceX’s float entry themed around their testing facility at Boca Chica Beach, named “Starbase,” came up the street with its smoke machine, Raptor engine and video screens showcasing their Starships. SpaceX employees danced on the float and shook white maracas — which some then handed out to the crowd as people took out their phones to take videos and photos of the popular float.
While temperatures in the 40s and 50s from the recent cold front did create some noticeable gaps in the crowd, die-hard fans came prepared with blankets, hats, gloves and other cold-weather gear over their fiesta-wear to enjoy the event.
After two years of a global pandemic limiting in-person gatherings the feeling of joy and celebration from attendees and those participating in the parade was palpable. People often got up to dance along the sidelines as musicians came by or to wave at and cheer a friend or family member riding a parade float.
“I got so emotional when the parade first started; I saw the horses come down the street and my husband saw that I was crying. It’s so emotional because it is such a huge tradition that has such value and sentiment when you grow up here and these are your roots,” Bryan said.
But like all things, the parade and Charro Days Fiesta must end for the year. The Grand International Parade serves as the herald of the beginning of the end for the fiesta until next year.
“As the end comes we are sad a little bit, but at the same time we are joyous that we were able to host the festival at all,” said Charro Days Fiesta President Henry LeVrier.
To see more of the Grand International Parade, view Brownsville Herald Denise Cathey’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: Community rejoices in Grand International Parade
