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Comment by Eddie North-Hager on November 20, 2014 at 12:34pm

From the Kickstarter page - The Echo Park Community Parade celebrates the young people and the diversity of Echo Park every year, the second Saturday of December.

The Echo Park Community Parade takes place the second Saturday of December, in Echo Park, in the heart of Los Angeles.  

Marching down Sunset Boulevard, kids, families, friends and supporters from Echo Park schools, as well as schools and communities throughout the Los Angeles county area, bring their dance moves, athletics, fight moves, musical skills, precision skills, voices and fashion to celebrate the December holidays.  They are joined and supported by other members of the Echo Park community: Echo Park clubs, non-profit organizations, local businesses, elected officials, artists, musicians, families, neighbors and friends.  The parade has a decades-long history in the neighborhood and is one of Echo Park's most beloved public events.

The Echo Park Community Parade Committee is a group of volunteers from around the Echo Park area who work together throughout the year to put the parade together.  The committee meets monthly, starting right after the annual parade, in January, and then more frequently as the year progresses and the December holidays approach. 

The EPCP Committee holds an annual art contest where young artists from pre-kindergarten through high school submit drawings of their interpretations of the parade’s theme of the year.  There are winners at each age level, and the winning drawings are featured on the parade program / calendar and parade banners.  This year the parade theme is: “Let the Holiday Lights Shine, It’s Echo Park Community Parade Time." This theme was chosen by the parade committee in part because the light displays that can be seen around Echo Park during the holidays are so beautiful.  We can’t wait to show you this year’s contest winners!!

The EPCP committee works together with members of LA Council District 1, LA Council District 13, LAPD and LA DOT to secure parade insurance, city permitting, and security, and a stage that is set up for the parade day headquarters at the intersection of Sunset and Echo Park Boulevards.

Each year the committee gathers nominee suggestions from around the Echo Park community for the parade Grand Marshal and four parade ambassadors.  These nominees are community members and community groups who stand out during the year for their contribution to Echo Park.  The committee conducts a two month long voting process to determine the winners of these five positions.  These community honorees lead off the parade, riding in cars supplied by the committee.

Entry to the parade is free. Parade entrants supply their own floats, costumes, uniforms, cars, flags, instruments, talent and ingenuity to make this one of the most visually spectacular events to happen in Los Angeles each year.  The EPCP committee handles the details and logistics to bring all these participants together into a wonderful day.

Every year the EPCP committee creates a calendar / program where local businesses and Echo Park groups advertise.  This calendar / program is distributed free along the parade route on the day of the parade, and we hope it hangs in everyone’s kitchen year round!

This year, in addition to our advertising efforts, we decided to try something new with a Kickstarter campaign, to try to let more people know about our great event, and to try to keep pace in an ever-changing environment.  We appreciate your time and your attention, and if you can contribute to our campaign in any way, we would be so grateful.

Best of all, please come down to Sunset Blvd at 11 am on 12.13.14, to celebrate the holidays with friends and neighbors on what is always one of the most beautiful LA Saturdays of the year!!

Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter

Our biggest challenge is rain. But even the rain doesn't stop this parade. In 2009 it rained on parade day, but all participants were so enthusiastic that they danced and sang and played in the rain and eventually it stopped. Our biggest asset is the talent, commitment and joy of the drill teams, dance teams, marching bands, classic car owners, non-profits, local business owners, local elected officials, local clubs, and other community members in the parade, and with those tools we can overcome anything, including bad weather. Maybe even a bad economy ;-)