On May 23, the eve of the 99th annual Indianapolis 500 race, the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. and will start at the intersection of North St. and Pennsylvania St. in downtown Indianapolis.Well-known celebrities, costumed characters, marching bands, floats and giant helium balloons will fill the streets to celebrate the world’s largest single-day sporting event.

For freshman Amy Zhou, this will be her fourth year performing in the parade. Zhou said, “ I go as part of the Indianapolis Chinese Community Center Inc.’s dance group and we do traditional Chinese dance called ‘yang ge wu’. We line up in rows and dance with big, colorful ribbons that wrap around our waist and extend past our arms. My favorite part about participating in the parade is seeing the kids’ reactions when I pass out candy.”

In addition to passing out candy during the parade, Zhou said she is excited to see all of the floats and different types of performers that will be participating in the parade.

The theme of the parade this year is: “Celebrating the Stories of May.” According to the Indy 500 website, more than half a million people participate in the Indianapolis 500 Festival’s events and participants all have their own unique story. Stories may include grieving loved ones on Memorial Day, training to complete the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, enjoying a family tradition revolving around the Indy 500 Festival Parade or embracing the new title as the Indianapolis 500 Princess. Regardless, everyone has a May story worth celebrating.

Zhou said, “My entire family is really involved in the cultural aspect of the parade. For us, being in the parade is a good way to promote cultural diversity and to see other unique cultures. We spend countless hours preparing before the weekend of the parade. The only disappointing part about actually being in the parade are not being able to see the whole thing  in peron and having to deal with the extremely hot weather.”

According to the Indy 500 sponsors, the parade will begin with 33 starting drivers of the Indy 500 serving as honorary grand marshals the day before the race, riding in the traditional rows of three, with the winner of the pole position bringing up the rear. Following the beginning act is a series of colorful floats with specific themes and a variety of different performers.

Zhou said, “Even though I’ve always wanted to just sit in the bleachers while the parade is going on so I can watch the entire thing for once, I still enjoy performing in it with my friends and family.”