UC Berkeley Web Feature

Holiday Bowl 2004
Big Balloon Parade

From Public Affairs | 29 December 2004

Holiday Bowl game day activities got underway with racing wiener dogs. Although Noodles (#5) wasn't the high-flyingest dachshund, he was the fastest, netting a $1,000 check for his owners from Huntington Beach, CA. (Steve McConnell photos)

After the four-footed racers came the two-footed variety, participants in the Bumble Bee Seafoods 5K run along the parade course.

The parade's signature big balloons ranged from the Cat in the Hat to local favorite Shamu. Some balloons had a tricky time navigating the narrow parade route, as their handlers battled the gentle ocean breeze and sometimes a lack of gas.

Parade participants brought their own zany style to the show, including this drill team of aging surfboard enthusiasts.

Bud the dalmation had a prime spot for parade-watching, perched atop Annheuser-Busch's Clydesdale-pulled beer wagon.

But life is not a bed of roses (and we're not talking bowl game selection, either!) — just ask the Clydesdales' personal cleanup committee.

The UC Berkeley float packed on the whole Cal family: Oski, cheerleaders, Rally Committee members and the chancellor and his wife.

Cal Band great! And they certainly were, for the parade as well as for their many other performances throughout a grueling Holiday Bowl week.

Even some nonpartisan parade participants showed their true colors, like these Marines with a tiny Cal bear perched atop their amphibious vehicle.

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