Safety concerns and obstructed access for participants during the downtown construction caused the postponement of the 63rd annual Los Altos Kiwanis Pet Parade from May 14 to Oct. 8.
The parade traditionally falls on the second Saturday in May along Main and State streets. The change marks the first rescheduling in recent memory.
The city of Los Altos is scheduled to close portions of Main Street for intersection construction in May, which renders the standard parade route impossible, said 2011 Parade Chairwoman Doris Padilla.
Because construction on First Street will be under way in the October, organizers plan to stage the parade with a revised route that eliminates one block of Main, Padilla said.
The proposed new course would begin at Main and Second streets, with participants gathering at the South and Central plazas between Second and Third streets.
The route would then proceed down Main and up State, dispersing at First, to the right of the construction.
Over more than 60 years, the Pet Parade has evolved into a spring tradition that attracts hundreds of children – with pets of all varieties, from snails to llamas – in wagons, on bicycles and marching with parents, neighbors and representatives from local bands, schools and community groups.
This year, Padilla said, the Kiwanis Club hopes to revive the classic vision of a downtown parade that emphasizes children’s participation.
“We are really hoping to shift the parade to be mostly children and pets marching,” she said. “We want parents to be cheering their children on as audience members, rather than marching with them.”
The Los Altos Rotary Fine Art in the Park event will remain as scheduled May 14 and 15 at Lincoln Park in Los Altos, though the annual event usually runs in tandem with the Los Altos Kiwanis Pet Parade.
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