ON THE MOVE : Times Orange County Holiday Parade Steps Off in a New Direction This Year

Santa Claus is moving to a higher-rent district for his annual ride through the streets of Santa Ana.

The annual Times Orange County Holiday Parade, which in years past has wound through the city’s old downtown, will be held this year on streets near South Coast Plaza. Saturday’s event marks the beginning of the holiday parade season in Orange County, although the other main attractions--in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach--are held in the water, not on dry land (see story, Page 19).

Moving the Times Orange County Holiday Parade was designed to give the event more visibility and more elbow room, said parade managing director Robert Viking.

“We felt that we could begin to build our crowds by moving to the South Coast area,” Viking said. “We just decided we need to have more room. Everyone saw this as a move that was necessary if the parade was going to continue to grow.” Another factor in moving the parade, Viking said, was that freeway construction near downtown Santa Ana has made access to that area more difficult.

In an effort to hold on to longtime parade supporters, organizers have been advertising details of the parade through both English- and Spanish-language radio and print outlets. “We’re trying very hard to get the word out to people about the route change,” Viking said.

This year’s parade begins at 9:30 a.m. at the corner of Bristol Street and Alton Way. It will move south on Bristol to Sunflower Avenue, where it turns left. The parade, which will disperse at Plaza Drive, will end at 11 a.m. Although it is difficult to estimate because of the change in location, organizers expect about 200,000 spectators.

The Holiday Parade will feature huge helium-filled balloons depicting characters such as Popeye, Heathcliff and a Smurf. There will also be 20 floral floats; the lead float, sponsored by Great Western Reclamation, will depict a larger-than-life gorilla lounging in an African rain forest.

Titled “A Pageant of International Discovery,” the parade is billed as a salute to the county’s cultural diversity. Among the 90 parade units taking part are the Fiesta Folklorico Dancers, Greek dancers from St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Anaheim, the San Gabriel Valley Chinese Cultural Assn. Dragon and Lion Dancers, and Fraternidad Guatemalteca Orange County.

Bolivian Diablada is another, a 35-member troupe based in Orange County whose members are drawn from the local Bolivian community and from cities as far as San Diego and Los Angeles. The troupe re-creates a traditional dance performed in Oruru, a city in Bolivia’s mining district. The dance, which has its roots in pre-Spanish Indian culture, is a stylized battle between good and evil.

“We’ve been getting awards in different parades,” said Bill Dupleich, the group’s organizer. The group recently traveled to a parade in San Francisco, he said; this is its third year in the Santa Ana parade, which is 9 years old. “People seem to like the colorful masks and costumes,” he added.

Also in the parade, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the “Nutcracker” ballet, 40 costumed dancers from a local group, Daria Bearden’s Dance Company, will dance around a “Nutcracker” float. The U.S. Navy Steel Band from New Orleans, a favorite at the parade, will be on hand again, as will a number of high school marching bands.

Because it will be held on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, the parade is certain to add to traffic headaches around South Coast Plaza. “We anticipate traffic congestion,” Viking said. “We’ve worked diligently to plan for that.” He said parade-goers are asked to arrive early, well before the 9:30 a.m. starting time.

He recommends that people attending the parade and arriving by car park in structures east of Bristol Street, at Town Center and Avenue of the Arts (for people approaching from the Costa Mesa Freeway) and off Anton Boulevard (for those approaching from the San Diego Freeway).

Shuttle buses to the parade route will depart every 15 minutes between 7 and 8:30 a.m. from two places: the Santa Ana Transportation Center at 1000 E. Santa Ana Blvd., and the Laguna Hills Transportation Center at 24500 Paseo de Valencia. The buses will return every 15 minutes from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. (to allow people to eat lunch or shop). Fares are $1 each way.

In past years the parade has been broadcast live on KTLA-TV Channel 5, but because of a tighter budget this year, organizers had to drop live coverage (the parade must pay for air time for the broadcast). It will, however, be shown later on the Comcast and Dimension cable systems; check local listings for times.

Rick VanderKnyff is a free-lance writer who regularly contributes to The Times Orange County Edition.