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Balloons, Crowds Fill Downtown Stamford

STAMFORD, Conn. — Shouts of “look there” and “spin it, spin it,” came from the crowd of thousands that filled downtown Stamford for Sunday’s UBS Parade Spectacular as each of the 21 giant helium balloons floated by.

“Look, Garfield is doing the Limbo,” Maggie Ullrich, 7 of Greenwich, said as she watched the parade march down Summer Street. The balloon handlers had to dip and dodge balloons under and around street lights to make the trek from Hoyt Street to Federal Street.

“We’re having a blast,” Robert Romero said as he and his son Rakesh, 2, watched from atop a Stamford Police vehicle. It was Rakesh’s first time at the parade, and he smiled, laughed and shouted out each character coming down the street. Two older children were up by the guardrail getting a closer look, Romero said.

Although traffic never flows well in downtown Stamford, it was much worse on the streets and sidewalks Sunday as tens of thousands of people lined the streets to take in the parade. Usually about 250,000 people attend the annual parade, and with temperatures in the 60s even more were expected, said Sharon Anderson of Stamford Downtown Special Services District.

“We had more people an hour before the parade than we’ve had the past 10 years,” Anderson said.  

Leading the parade were this year’s Grand Marshals Laura Linney, John Benjamin Hickey and Gabourey Sidibe, the stars of “The Big C.” It ended as it always does with Santa Claus making his way to the Stamford Town Center, where he will set up shop until he has to go back to the North Pole for Christmas. In between the actors and Jolly Old St. Nick were the giant helium balloons, 11 marching bands and many other floats as well as dance troupes. 

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