Salute 2 America Parade

The Salute 2 America Parade is an annual U.S. Independence Day parade held in Atlanta, Georgia each Fourth of July. The numeral in the name came from it being sponsored by WSB-TV 2, which showed the 1½-hour parade live each year at 1PM, after a half-hour pre-show. It was the largest televised Independence Day parade in the country.

The hosts were longtime news anchor Monica Kaufman, and sportscaster Chuck Dowdle. The 2006 parade was the first in HDTV, using 720p like other ABC network stations.

The parade, which had been produced by Argonne Parades since 1981, began in 1961 and ended its run in 2007. It ran south on Peachtree Street, then briefly northwest on Marietta Street, ending at Centennial Olympic Park. The latter part of the route was used since at least 2005. An estimated 250,000 people came to watch the parade each year, with another estimated 350,000 watching at home.

Other events on the day include fireworks at Lenox Square (billed as the largest in the Southeast) on WGCL-TV 46 and WLTM 94.9 (Lite FM), and at Centennial Olympic Park on WXIA-TV 11 and WSTR FM 94.1 (Star 94). The Peachtree Road Race also occurs early in the morning.

Celebrities and performers

2006

*Bobby Cox (grand marshal, Atlanta Braves coach)
*Kimberly McCullough, Jason Thompson (grand marshals, "General Hospital" actors)
*Jennifer Berry (grand marshal, Miss America 2006)
*Little Big Town (singers, U.S. national anthem)
*Diana DeGarmo (singer, local "American Idol" finalist)
*GEICO Gecko, Atlanta Hawks Harry the Hawk, Atlanta Falcons Freddie Falcon (mascots)
*Falun Dafa drummers, local high school bands
*Oscar the Grouch and Uncle Sam balloons
*Eiffel Tower balloon on Louvre Atlanta float, Centennial Olympic Park 10th-anniversary float
*WSB-TV personalities, including Clark Howard and several others

External links

* [http://www.wsbtv.com/salute2america WSB-TV official parade info]
* [http://www.wsbtv.com/station/2906098/detail.html WSB-TV parade history]