Flying Pig Parade

Hi Everyone,

The Flying Pig Parade, Gainesville’s most amazing event, marched through downtown Gainesville for the third time on January 3rd, 2026, to the delight of 10,426 fans. Its theme, again, was “They who shun whimsy shall suffer rigor mortis before death”. Nobody shunned it, and we all had a blast.

Want to see it? We commissioned Steven Spielberg to make a video of it (well, actually, we tied a camera to his dog). Here is the link.

Gainesville legend Joe Courter served as grand marshal. He has worked tirelessly for forty years to publish his popular “Gainesville Iguana” newspaper. Past honorees include activists Vivian FIler, Paul Ortiz, and Sheila Payne.

Over sixty groups marched, celebrating all that is wild, weird, and wonderful about living in North Central Florida. That’s a new record! The parade began at Bo Diddley Plaza, marched south on SE 1 St., and took a couple of left turns. A few groups went around twice.

Bo Diddley’s Birthday Bash followed our 2 pm parade. The festive concert began at 3 and featured the popular Showtime Band. Besides rockin’ live music, Bo’s party people enjoyed delicious cake from The Vine Bakery.

We’ve got “Pig #4” coming up on Saturday, January 2, 2027. It’s not too early to start planning for that. You too can reach for the stars on the wings of a pig!

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.