Parada del Sol

Parada del Sol

Late February

In 1951 the town of Scottsdale, Ariz., began an annual Sunshine Festival. The event featured a parade through the downtown that led to the city park for a family barbeque. In 1954, the newly-formed Scottsdale Jaycees took over the event and renamed it the Parada del Sol.
Wanting to use the Parada del Sol to highlight Scottsdale's Old West heritage, the Jaycees adopted the slogan "The West's Most Western Town" to promote the event. They added Western-style staged gunfights and holdups to the festival. In 1956 a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned rodeo was added. Over the years, the rodeo has been held at different sites around Scottsdale, including the Scottsdale Stadium and the Rawhide Western Town. It is now located at the Equidome Arena at WestWorld in north Scottsdale.
Since 1959 the Parada del Sol has begun with the Hashknife Pony Express run from the town of Holbrook to Scottsdale, the only pony express service still officially authorized by the U.S. Postal Service. This delivery is followed by the two-mile parade itself, held on a Saturday, which features 150 floats and some 1,000 horses. The parade ends in Old Town, where spectators can go for a block party with food, drinks, games, live music, and pony rides for the children. The three-day rodeo begins on the following Friday.

CONTACTS:
Scottsdale Jaycees Parada del Sol
P.O. Box 292
Scottsdale, AZ 85252
480-990-3179
www.scottsdalejaycees.org/paradadelsol