Local
Curious George comes to Stamford
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Nov 7, 2008 - 3:26 PM

Stamford, CT - The UBS Parade Spectacular presented by Stamford Town Center is just around the corner. On Sunday, November 23rd Stamford Downtown Special Services District will once again host one of the largest helium balloon parades in the country. And this year there are some new faces with four new giant balloons including Mighty Mouse, Mr. Potato Head, Paddington Bear and Underdog. The parade will feature 25 giant balloons, 13 award winning marching bands and a variety of over 20 dance troupes and 7 fabulous floats.

Grand Marshal will be Tommy John, Major League Baseball Great and Manager of the Bridgeport Bluefish and Master of Ceremonies will be Alan Kalter from the Late Show with David Letterman. This year, Stamford Downtown is proud to present the ZOOperstars! as seen on NBC’s America’s Got Talent and a special performance by Teen Pop Star, Tiffany Giardina.

The fun begins before parade day when volunteers are trained to fly one of the gigantic balloons. The balloon training takes place on Wednesday, November 12 when balloon handler volunteers will gather on the UBS Lawn at 677 Washington Boulevard in Stamford to have their first lesson in flying a giant helium balloon. Curious George will be the first balloon to be led down the parade route this year. At over 50 feet tall, Curious George holds almost 5,500 cubic feet of helium and requires 34 handlers.

It takes almost 1000 handlers to walk the balloons through the parade route. At training the volunteers will develop and practice their balloon handling skills with those maneuvers that require them to raise and lower Curious George, simulating the negotiation of obstacles the handlers will find along the parade route. They are also shown how to “spin” the balloon, a favorite technique used during the parade to “show off” their handling skills. Curious George is sponsored by UBS. Stamford Downtown is proud that UBS continues to sponsor the Parade and that Stamford Town Center returns for their 13th year of sponsorship of the parade.

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