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PCS CHICAGO PARTICIPATES IN THE 80th McDONALD’s THANKSGIVING PARADE ON STATE STREET IN CHICAGO
CHICAGO: The Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago (PCS) kept up its tradition of participating in the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade held on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 28, 2013, on State Street in downtown Chicago in a blustery cold 27 degrees Fahrenheit. The freezing weather did not deter PCS and thousands of spectators who lined up along the parade route to watch and cheer during the event.
The parade was televised live on WGN Channel 9 and WGN America from 8:00 am to 11:00 am, and rebroadcast from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm on CLTV the same day where millions watched from home. It was also streamed live on the internet for worldwide viewing.
Celebrating its 80th year, the McDonald's® Thanksgiving Parade is Chicago's premier holiday event. PCS was a part of more than 100 spectacular contingents proudly marching the parade route north on State Street from Congress to Randolph.
"PCS has been participating in this parade since 2005. It gives our Indian community great exposure in the mainstream, and it shows our commitment to celebrate the American festivals, in solidarity with the American people," said PCS President Surinder Singh Sangha.
“The theme of the PCS float and its contingent was an Indian Punjabi wedding procession (Baraat), which included the bride and the groom in traditional Punjabi wedding outfits, the baraatis in festive ethnic costumes, Punjabi Dhol (drum), amplified Bhangra music and street dancing,” said Rajinder Singh Mago, PCS Board of Governors.
University of Illinois at Chicago and DePaul University Bhangra troupes led the PCS float with Punjabi folk dances choreographed to Bhangra music blasting from the float to thousands of cheering spectators lined up along the State Street.
Mona and Manjeet Bhalla were the bride and the groom, newlyweds Jaswant and Yasmin Sodhi were another couple as best man and bridesmaid, Kevin Atwal and Ryan Singh played Punjabi Dhol, along with Twin Beats DJ Punjabi music to set the dancing mood and keep the crowd engaged.
“Once the parade was underway, we temporarily forgot about the freezing temperatures as we drove along State Street waving to the throngs of spectators that lined both sides of the streets. We waved and smiled, and danced along to the music. The crowd was bundled up to brave the weather, but seemed to wholeheartedly enjoy our colorful, lively procession," said Yasmin Rammohan Sodhi who was dressed up in her traditional Punjabi wedding reception outfit and jewelry under a heavy winter coat which she took off encouraged by profound cheers and applause from the crowd.
Over 350,000 onlookers cheered along the parade route while an estimated 3.75 million viewers watched from home to see the PCS float and walking unit, Bhangra dancers, gigantic helium balloons, marching school bands, majestic Arabian equestrian units, fabulous specialty floats, spectacular performance groups, national celebrities and local TV personalities, in addition to Santa Claus.
The PCS participation was organized by Surinder Singh Sangha, Pardeep Singh Deol, Vick Singh, Gurmit Singh Dhillon, Balwinder Singh Girn, Sunny Kular, Ronny Kular, Mohinderjit Singh Saini, and Rajinder Singh Mago with the help of many youth volunteers, including Harleen Kaur Saini, Bikram Singh Chohan, and Irnjyot Kaur Sanghera.
The Chicago Festival Association (CFA) is a unique and exciting nonprofit organization in the city of Chicago, produced this McDonald's® Thanksgiving Parade.
Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago (PCS) is a nonprofit organization promoting education, good citizenship, community development, civic commitment and involvement, and preserving Punjabi culture, language, sports and performing arts among its community members and also mainstream Americans in the Midwest and beyond. PCS caters to this need both by directly organizing events that bring community members together from all over the Midwest region, and by facilitating participation of its community members in mainstream activities.
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