The 69th East LA Mexican Independence Day Parade & Festival will be held Sunday, with Los Angeles Galaxy and Mexican national team forward Giovani dos Santos as the grand marshal.
The parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Mednik avenues. It will then head north on Cesar Chavez Avenue to Gage Avenue. Parade participants will turn south onto First Street. The mile-and-a-half parade will end at Belvedere Park at Mednik and First, where the Grand Festival will be held.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Organizers advise parade- goers to arrive by 9 a.m. to find seating in a good area.
Other participants will include Mayor Eric Garcetti, state Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin DeLeon, D-Los Angeles, high school and college marching bands and an equestrian charro group.
Spectators are prohibited from bringing drones to the parade, according to organizers.
The Grand Festival will follow the parade from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. It will include traditional food and music, opportunities to take pictures with and get autographs from celebrities, raffles, face painting and arts and crafts.
The parade is organized by the Comite Mexicano Civico Patriotico, a nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining Mexican traditions, and the Mexican Consulate of Los Angeles.
