Comerica Bank New Year's Parade
Encyclopedia
The Comerica Bank New Year's Parade (also known as the Cotton Bowl Parade) is an annual New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...

 parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...

 held in downtown Dallas, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. The parade is sponsored by Comerica Bank, presented by the J. Curtis Sanford Parade Committee, and benefits the Field and Mary Scovell Scholarship Foundation. It was revived in 2007 and is held each year for the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. An estimated 100,000 people attend the parade each year. The parade route is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, starts in the Dallas Arts District and ends at the American Airlines Center
American Airlines Center
The American Airlines Center is a multi-purpose arena, located in the Victory Park neighborhood, near downtown Dallas, Texas.It is home to the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA, and the Dallas Stars of the NHL....

, by Victory Park. It features about 80 different entries, including about 20 floats and various marching bands, balloons, and other such performances. The parade is followed by pep rallies in the park for each team competing in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Although the game is now held in Cowboy Stadium
Cowboy Stadium
Cowboy Stadium is a 17,410-seat multi-purpose stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana. It is home to the McNeese State University Cowboys football team, and is affectionately referred to as "The Hole". It was transformed for the 2008 season to artificial turf. A new state of the art field house is...

 at Arlington, Texas
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...

, the parade is still held in Dallas. The Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau says that the New Year's Day parade is important to the local economy because it increases the amount of people shopping, dining, and staying in hotels during the end of the holiday season.

History

The parade was originally televised on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 until 1992, when the network decided to stop, and as a result, the event was canceled. The parade was then revived in 2007, when Comerica, which had recently moved its headquarters from Detroit to Dallas, announced its title sponsorship of the event. Originally held on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...

, the parade started with approximately 60 different entries, but has since expanded. All of the parades have been organized by the J. Curtis Sanford Parade Committee, a non-profit organization named for J. Curtis Sanford, who founded the Cotton Bowl Classic in 1937 with his own money. In 2008, the "Comerica Bank Vote for the Float" was announced. The program allows spectators and television viewers to vote for floats designed by middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

 students from the Dallas Independent School District
Dallas Independent School District
The Dallas Independent School District is a school district based in Dallas, Texas . Dallas ISD, which operates schools in much of Dallas County, is the second largest school district in Texas and the twelfth largest in the United States.In 2009, the school district was rated "academically...

 in Dallas County
Dallas County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...

. Former Dallas Cowboys running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 Emmett Smith was picked to be the event's first Grand Marshal
Grand Marshal
Grand Marshal is a ceremonial, military, or political office of very high rank. The term has its origins with the word "Marshal" with the first usage of the term "Grand Marshal" as a ceremonial title for certain religious orders...

 in 2007. For the 2010 parade, the Eli Young Band
Eli Young Band
Eli Young Band is an American country music band based in Denton, Texas. The band is composed of Mike Eli , James Young , Jon Jones , and Chris Thompson . They released their self-titled debut album in 2002, followed by the Carnival records release Level in 2005...

was chosen to be the parade's Grand Marshal. The 2009 Grand Marshal was Betty Sanford, the widow of J. Curtis Sanford. She was chosen because it was the last year the Cotton Bowl Classic would be held in Dallas.
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