Overview

This 79 year old event is the largest African–American parade in the United States celebrated its 30th year on television in 2008. The parade, sponsored by the Chicago Defender Charities, is also a tribute to the African–American family and community and encourages youth to head back to school on the 1st day.

Air Date

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Stations and Time

WGN-TV Superstation * 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ABC-TV, Channel 7 * 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. TV One Cable Network Saturday, August 9, 2008 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, August 10, 2008 12:00p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

WGN–TV Hosts

• Allison Payne
• Steve Harvey
• Ramonski Luv

WLS–TV Hosts

• Cheryl Burton
• Bill Campbell
• Jim Rose

Special Features

National Award Winning bands & drill teams; tumblers; and national celebrities and entertainers

Fact Sheet

• In 2008, more than 1.4 million people viewed the Bud Billiken Parade on local and national television.
  
  
• Robert S. Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender newspaper, founded the Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic in 1929 to award the newspaper boys
  
  
• The Bud Billiken Parade ranks only third in size behind the Rose Bowl Parade and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
  
  
• The Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic is the largest of it kind in the nation
  
  
• In 2008, more than 300 units and over 85,000 people participated in the parade
  
  
• The total distance of the parade is 2.5 miles
  
  
• In 2008, more than 1.2 million people lined the streets to view the parade.
  
  
• Buddy is used to indicate a closeness of a relationship and Bud is short for Buddy. A Billiken is a Chinese mythical God who represents “things as they should be.”