Emmy Award-Winning Telemundo 40 to help air the largest illuminated Texas holiday parade on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
Texas Border Business
Thanks to its partnership with Telemundo 40, the McAllen Holiday Parade, presented by H-E-B, the largest illuminated holiday and helium balloon parade in Texas, will help bring the McAllen Christmas spirit to a national Hispanic audience in the top 31 markets for TeleXitos, a Spanish-language network channel owned by the Telemundo Station Group. The network will air the multiple international-award winning parade on Tuesday, Dec. 24 and Wed., Dec. 25 at 4:30 PM CST/5:30 PM EST/2:30 PM PST.
“The McAllen Holiday Parade is just a little bit of what the City of McAllen has to offer, and we are excited that TeleXitos 40.2 will showcase this magic nationwide,” said Jose Flores, President and General Manager of KTLM-Telemundo 40, located in McAllen, Texas.
News Anchor Denisse Salinas and Telemundo 40 Responde Reporter Ana Cecilia Mendez will serve as co-hosts for the broadcast. Additionally, Matias Novoa, Isabella Castillo, and Alejandro Lopez, stars from the top-rated series, “El Señor de los Cielos,” as well as co-hosts Jorge Bernal and Carolina Sandoval “la venenosa” from the entertainment show “Suelta la Sopa,” both airing on Telemundo, will kick-off the holiday celebration with their appearances in the parade.
“The McAllen Holiday Parade brought smiles to the over a quarter of a million people who sat in the stadium and lined the parade route to see the dazzling illuminated floats, larger-than-life character balloons, international celebrities, and marching bands,” said City of McAllen Mayor Jim Darling. “The young, and the young at heart, flocked to see McAllen celebrate the theme and it’s official designation by Texas Governor Greg Abbott as the ‘South Pole of Texas‘, brought to life in this year’s parade. ”
The parade’s theme, “South Pole of Texas,” was expressed through one-of-a-kind animated, illuminated floats that included Santa Claus and his elves in various tropical activities, including fishing, golfing and farming, all of which can be enjoyed in McAllen’s Rio Grande Valley in South Texas year-round. Additionally, Mexican cultural icons such as calaveras, and piñatas, as well as, aliens, the Elf on a Shelf, a traditional Christmas nativity manger scene and even a local Hannakuh dreidel were all part of the 55 lighted floats that traveled down the one and a half-mile parade route.
While the floats featured a wattage power of 153,000 watts from just under five miles of rope light, the 39 giant inflated fan-favorite character balloons included the Grinch, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, a T-Rex dinosaur and holiday balloons including ornaments, presents, and nutcracker, while the Macy’s Gold Star balloon made its McAllen Holiday Parade debut that evening, all utilizing 34,000 cubic feet of helium to keep them flying high throughout the parade.
However, the attraction for many of the parade attendees are the celebrity guests who are invited to be part of the parade, who join local elected officials on the various floats. International luminaries of TV and film, as well as former and current star athletes, make up the star-studded line-up that had an appeal for everyone in the community. This year’s McAllen Holiday Parade Grand Marshal was the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s president Dr. Guy Bailey, chosen for his efforts to increase educational opportunities at the school for students from the region, as well as northern Mexico.
This year’s star wattage for the McAllen Holiday Parade was dazzling as international acting and music sensation Mane de la Parra appeared not only in the parade but also part of a holiday musical extravaganza that featured a 500 member choir of 4th and 5th-grade students from the McAllen Independent School District, who all accompanied Mane as they sang traditional Spanish-language holiday songs.
The Rio Grande Valley is definitely Dallas Cowboys Country, so to add to that overwhelming appeal, current stand-outs linebacker Jaylon Smith, cornerback Byron Jones and safety Kevon Frazor joined their legendary former team members, four-time Pro-Bowler, Super Bowl Champion and former wide receiver Tony Hill, as well as five-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion Charles Haley, and Pro-Bowl and Super Bowl Champion Ed “Too Tall” Jones who all appeared in the parade also. Rounding out the silver and blue enticement were four Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and the team mascot Rowdy.
Other celebrity guests included: Pedro Rojas, Univision News national correspondent; Eddie Moreno, “El Flaco,” host of the nationally syndicated “El Flaco y Su Pandilla,” appearing courtesy of Entravision; as well as Raul Brindis host of his own morning show, “El Show de Raul Brindis,” which airs on Univision Radio; and local celebrity, super-bantamweight boxing champion Brandon Figueroa.
Aside from airing throughout the Rio Grande Valley, the parade will also air in the following markets:
- Texas: Dallas; El Paso; Houston; McAllen; San Antonio;
- Florida: Ft. Myers; Miami; Orlando; Tampa; and West Palm Beach;
- Arizona: Phoenix and Tucson;
- California: Bakersfield; Fresno; Los Angeles; Sacramento; Salinas/Monterey; San Diego; and San Francisco; and
- Other markets: Atlanta, GA; Alburquerque, NM; Boston and Springfield, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Hartford, CT; Las Vegas, NV; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Salt Lake City, UT; Washington, D.C.
TeleXitos can be seen on Channel 1285 in the Rio Grande Valley. Check local listings for the TeleXitos channel to view the McAllen Holiday Parade on Tuesday, Dec. 24 and Wednesday, Dec. 25. The McAllen Holiday Parade has been named the Best Parade in the World and the Best Parade in Texas three years in a row by international and state event industry organizations.
The McAllen Holiday Parade is presented by H-E-B and powered by Bert Ogden & Fiesta Dealerships, Budweiser, Reliant and Driscoll Health System/Driscoll Health Plan. Other sponsors include McAllen Public Utility; McAllen International Bridge System; McAllen Recycling; Metro McAllen; McAllen International Airport; McAllen Chamber of Commerce; Peña Eye Institute; McAllen Economic Development Corp.; Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson; Sprint; IBC Bank; Gordita’s Doña Tota; AEP Texas; Chick-fil-A; PepsiCo.; Tres Lagos; Lacks; University of Texas-RGV; McAllen I.S.D.; Hermes; Laredo Taco Company/Stripes; Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers; Carollo Engineers; Palenque Group; KSA Engineers; Macy’s; BBVA Compass; South Texas College; McAllen I.S.D. Med-Care EMS; Cigna HealthSpring; Plains Capital Bank; Raba Kistner Consultants, Inc.; Texas Lottery; Halff Associates, Inc.; Melden & Hunt; S&B Infrastructure, Ltd.; Juanita’s Foods; O’Reilly’s and U.S. Army.
Media partners for the event include Telemundo 40 and TeleXitos; KGBT-Ch. 4 Valley Central and TV-Azteca; KRGV-Ch.5 and 5.2 Somos el Valle; Entravision TV and radio stations, including Q 94.5 THE ROCK STATION FM; 107.9 MIX FM; La TriColor 99.5 FM; La Suavecita 101.1 FM and television stations FOX-South Texas, The Valley’s CW 212, UniMas and of course, Univision-Valle del Rio Grande; R Communications stations including, Digital 101.5, Super Tejano 102.1, La Ley 102.5, KURV-710 AM and La Lupe 89.1; Wild 104/KISS 106 and KTEX from IHeartRadio; Univision Radio, including KGBT LA JEFA 98.5 / RECUERDO, 96.1 / UNIVISION DEPORTES 1530 AM; Más Music Radio; Advance News-Journal; El Periódico, U.S.A.; Revista Expresión; and The Monitor.
