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“Jack Box” Kicks off Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade

Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Contact: Marguerite Elicone

At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 30, 2009, a face familiar to San Diego and beyond will be floating down Harbor Drive on the north Embarcadero of San Diego Bay. "Jack Box," of Jack in the Box fast food fame, will lead the 19th annual Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade as the event's grand marshal. Jack in the Box was founded in San Diego in 1951 and since then has been a household name in 17 states.

Jack was also selected as the Honorary Chairman of the 32nd annual Pacific Life Holiday Bowl game. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. the same evening at Qualcomm Stadium. The parade is one of the many festivities leading up to the annual bowl game, which features the Pac-10 University of Arizona Wildcats and Big 12 University of Nebraska Cornhuskers.

The Port of San Diego is the title sponsor of the parade which is famous for its giant helium balloons. Dubbed "America's Largest Balloon Parade," it outnumbers the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City by eight balloons. The Big Bay Balloon parade has 22, the 2009 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade had 14.

In addition to the balloons, another big hit of the parade is the array of marching bands. The University of Arizona and University of Nebraska marching bands will be performing, along with Marine Band San Diego, Navy Band Southwest, the Salvation Army Band and 10 others.

There will be 17 specialty units, ranging from Ballet Xochitl to the United States Marines Hummer team. The two competing football teams will present their floats and a float designed by a local elementary school student will be featured. Other floats include the parade's opening float with the grand marshal, a wiener dog float and a float from the event's presenting sponsor, San Diego County Credit Union.

Just before the parade, the excitement builds as more than a thousand runners compete in the annual Bumble Bee 5K run. The race starts at 9:45 a.m. at the corner of Harbor Drive and Ash Street , heads south on Harbor Drive behind the San Diego Convention Center and makes a loop through Embarcadero Marina Park North. It ends near Tuna Harbor Park and the G Street Mole.

About 100,000 spectators are anticipated to view the parade, along Harbor Drive from Grape Street to the Broadway Pier. Harbor Drive will be closed from Grape Street to Pacific Highway from 6:45 a.m. until noon on December 30. Pacific Highway will be closed from Harbor Drive to Broadway during that same time. In addition, southbound Pacific Highway will only have one traffic lane open from Grape Street to Ash Street from 7 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.

The parade will air live locally on Channel 4 San Diego. It will air nationally on the USA Network at 9 a.m. on January 1.

Parade parking will be extremely limited. The Port of San Diego encourages carpooling or the use of public transportation. The San Diego Trolley has convenient stations with service to the Harbor Drive and embarcadero areas with free and paid parking lots. These are located at the Fashion Valley, Old Town and America Plaza stations. To see the parade route or to find out more about the Holiday Bowl festivities, visit pacificlifeholidaybowl.com .