After a long two-year hiatus, the Mexican Independence parade is back with an emphasis on unity and strength. The 2022 Little Village Chamber of Commerce Mexican Independence Day will take place on Sunday, September 11, 2022, and this year's parade theme is, “Nuestra Unidad es Nuestra Fortaleza,” or “Our Unity is Our Strength,” which serves as a reminder that our culture and unity as a community holds strong.

The 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade is considered one of the largest parades in the midwest and brings together over 500,000 participants, residents, and visitors along the two-and half-mile business corridor. The parade features brightly colored floats, mariachi bands, and folkloric dancing starting at the iconic Little Village, located on 26th Street and Albany Avenue, and proceeds down 26th street to Kostner Avenue. The parade is attended and enjoyed by residents, elected officials, community leaders, local businesses, entertainers, artisans, and artists.

The West Side GOP & Chicago GOP will be joining forces to present Republican candidates, committeepersons and every-day Republicans (from everywhere in Chicagoland). We are Unit #55 and we'll be meeting between 10am and 10:30am at 26th & California (east side of the street on California), so look for us. 

If you want to help decorate the GOP float (which will be there to get into position at 8am), meet us there at 9am and we'll have signs, flags, float swag and maybe even a piñata or three to adorn the float. We'll also have some coffee and donuts for early arriving GOP paraders! Only a limited number of children, 13 and under will be permitted to ride the float in this parade, as we were too overloaded with adults in the Bud Billiken parade and the float sustained some minor damage that has been repaired.

The parade begins at Noon and runs along 26th Street from Albany to Kostner (about 1.6 miles), so bring some good walking shoes. Republican campaign T-shirts or campaign-wear are acceptable. The parade organizers have asked all groups to police themselves and make sure everyone is respectable and wearing culturally-appropriate clothing for the parade. We WILL have bottled water available, plus some snacks while we're waiting around for the parade to step off. 

Consider taking public transportation or a ride service (Uber/Lyft) to get to 26th & California (yes, that's Cook County Jail AND the parade staging area).

IF YOU'RE DRIVING: It is suggested to find parking toward the center of the parade route - which would be Hamlin (North/South Street) - and then walk into the parade area, beyond the barricades set up by CPD and OEMC.

THERE IS SOME RAIN ANTICIPATED.....(let's hope it drys up), so be sure to bring a hat, raincoat and umbrella (if the sun is out we can store it on the float).

While it's OK to show up if your time becomes available at the last minute, please RSVP if possible, so we know what number of personnel we're working with.