Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic
| Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic | |
|---|---|
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| Status | Active |
| Genre | Parade |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | 39th–55th Streets and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (Bronzeville/Washington Park neighborhood) Chicago, Illinois |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 1929–present |
| Founder | Robert S. Abbott (Founder) |
| Most recent | August 13, 2016 |
| Next event | August 12, 2017 |
| Website | |
| budbillikenparade |
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The Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic (also known as The Bud Billiken Day Parade) is an annual parade held since 1929 in the Bronzeville/Washington Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States; it is the largest African-American parade in the nation. It is held annually on the second Saturday in August.Robert S. Abbott, the founder and publisher of the Chicago Defender, created the fictional character of Bud Billiken, which he featured in a column in his paper. David Kellum suggested the parade as a celebration of African-American life. It is now the second largest annual parade in the United States. The focus of the parade is on educating Chicago's youth. In the 21st century, the parade features celebrities, politicians, businessmen, civic organizations and youth. It begins in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's South Side and ends in Washington Park. The parade has been televised on WGN-TV (1978–2012), WLS-TV (1984–present) and WCIU-TV (2012–2014). National and international celebrities have attended and some have served as the parade's Grand Marshal. The 87th Annual Parade took place on August 13, 2016, and was televised on WLS-TV. In 2017, the second Saturday in August falls on August 12.
Bud Billiken is a fictional character created in 1923 by Abbott, who had been considering adding a youth section to the Chicago Defender newspaper. While dining at a Chinese restaurant he noticed a Billiken. Some of the early Billiken columns were written by Willard Motley, who later became a prominent novelist. During the early 1930s, names of international youth were listed in the "Bud Billiken" section of the newspaper every week. Between 1930-34, approximately 10,000 names appeared and were archived in the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library of the Chicago Public Library.
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