Flying Pig Parade

Hi Everyone,

The Flying Pig Parade, Gainesville’s most amazing event, is now in its third year. It’ll take place on Saturday, January 3, 2026, at 2 p.m. It’s not like most parades. This year’s theme will be, “They who shun whimsy shall suffer rigor mortis before death”.

Want to join the fun? We need more groups and volunteers. Sign up today!  Use our Parade Form or  Volunteer form.

Gainesville legend Joe Courter will serve as grand marshal. Joe has worked tirelessly for forty years to publish his popular “Gainesville Iguana” newspaper. When most papers have folded, Joe’s marches on with important, intriguing news. Past honorees include activists Vivian FIler, Paul Ortiz, and Sheila Payne.

Courter will be leading the annual procession that celebrates all that is wild, weird, and wonderful about living in North Central Florida. Over fifty groups will be stepping out on SE First on January third.

Gainesville is an official “Bee City,” and we’ll have not one but two groups with bees pollinating flowers and spectators in the downtown spectacle. Have you noticed that Marco Rubio is missing a spine? He’ll get a new one in the parade’s “Mobile Spine Implantation Clinic”.

Are you enraged by Publix’s decisions to allow customers to shop with guns? If so, you may want to march with “Publix, Where Shooting Is a Pleasure”. Participants will push shopping carts with 4-foot baguettes strapped to their backs, their sign, “Buns Not Guns!”.

This is just a taste of the incredible groups in this year’s parade (which is actually “next year”). Everyone is welcome!

The parade begins at 2 p.m. at Bo Diddley Plaza, 101 East University Avenue. It marches south on SE 1 St. to the Hippodrome Theater, then takes two left turns before returning to the plaza. It’s a short parade. Some go around twice.

Bo Diddley’s Birthday Bash will follow the parade. The festive concert begins at 3 p.m. If the Gainesville legend were still alive, he’d be celebrating his 98th trip around the sun. Join Bo’s party for live music and delicious cake in the plaza that bears his name.

We hope you can join all of the fun on January 3. One person told us, “It’s like taking a bath in laughter”. Who wouldn’t want that?
If you have questions, contact Parade Central at (305) 299-5607.

Use our contact form, sign up to be in the parade, or volunteer form to join the fun.

THE BIG PLAN:

The parade lines up in Bo Diddley Plaza, where SE 1 St. meets University Avenue at 1 p.m. At 2, we will begin marching south on SE 1st, take a left at the Hippodrome Theater, and take a couple of more left turns so you’ll end up where you began. Back at the Bo, we’ll have a Post Parade Party where our bands play and marchers will intermingle with parade fans.

No one will be in a hurry in the Flying Pig procession. We want you to stop and perform for your audience every fifty feet or so. It might take you 40 minutes to cover the six blocks. Some may be having so much fun they’ll want to go around a second time. That’s okay!

We run a clean parade. No one will be allowed to throw candy into the crowd. It makes a mess and is dangerous for kids running out into the street. Please refrain from throwing beads or any other items. We want the street to be cleaner after the parade than before. “Keep Alachua County Beautiful” is one of our sponsors  and we back them up. Again, it’s a short parade; only 50 groups will be allowed to march in it.

OUR LAST PARADE

Here’s a fun 12-minute video made by our friend Carol Tedesco.

Thanks again for your interest in Gainesville’s super sonic, soon-to-be-iconic, dancin’ in the street event.