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Houston prepares for Thanksgiving Day parade
Police in downtown Houston are preparing for tomorrow's Thanksgiving Day Parade as those participating had a rehearsal earlier on Wednesday. Thousands of people are expected to attend the 74th annual event. FOX 26's Matthew Seedorff has more on the parade route!
HOUSTON - Final preparations are underway for Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Houston.
Event organizers and members of law enforcement are planning for up to 250,000 guests around the parade route downtown.
"We take everything into account from traffic control to pedestrian safety," said HPD Homeland Security Command Assistant Chief Thomas Hardin. "As well as unforeseen circumstances, everything from domestic to some sort of coordinated attack."
Authorities across the country are on heightened alert following recent international events.
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Hardin says there will be more than 200 Houston Police officers at Thursday’s Thanksgiving parade.
"We also have tactical assets on site, both bomb and SWAT teams for a potential response," said Hardin. "[Also], we’ll have several officers you won’t see."
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This is the 74th annual H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade in downtown Houston. The event begins at 9 a.m. at Smith and Lamar and is free to guests. There will be 19 floats, eight performing groups, and hundreds of costumed characters.
"We have seven huge marching bands," said Houston Special Events Director Susan Christian. "We’re kicking off the show with TSU Ocean of Soul, of course, it’s amazing. And, we’re high-flying balloons, 18 of them."
For the first time in recent years, the weather is expected to be nice for Thursday’s parade. Last year there was rain, while the year before was canceled because of storms.
"We’re good with weather," said Christian. "We’re thinking we’re really great for this year’s show. All systems are go. We’re running on all cylinders."
Parking is available for free at multiple locations along the parade route. METRO buses and METRORail will be running on their holiday schedule.
Local police say they’re prepared for large crowds.
"We plan for what we expect to happen, and we also plan for what we hope doesn’t happen," said Hardin. "If we do that we’ll have everything in the middle covered."