The Miami parade returns to Coconut Grove – NBC 6 South Florida
The King Mango Strut is returning to Miami this weekend for its 40th annual parade.
Self-described as “The Weirdest Parade in the Universe,” the King Mango Strut has been poking fun at current events with wacky costumes and wild signs on the streets of Coconut Grove for decades.
But what exactly makes the parade so “weird”? Here’s what you can expect at this Sunday’s event:
What is happening at this year’s King Mango Strut?
If you’ll be in South Florida this weekend, you can catch this year’s King Mango Strut at Coconut Grove on Sunday, Jan. 7, from 2 to 6 pm.
The free annual event is known for mocking Florida’s current events and culture wars — which the last year has been no stranger to.
Parade president Carl Levin told Axios that this year’s theme is “I can’t get no DeSantisfaction” — a play on The Rolling Stones’ classic “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
Axios also reports that Levin says the parade is “typically a very left-leaning politically parade” and that this year’s participants plan to “mock the governor’s shipping of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and crackdown on library books and drag queens.”
Not all the parade’s features are exclusive to Florida. Levin says the parade will also have its own Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, referring to the most buzzworthy couple of 2023.
The Strut begins at 2 pm at the corner of Commodore Plaza and Main Highway. Tap here for the route map.
When did King Mango Strut begin?
The King Mango Strut says it all in their slogan: “Putting the NUT in Coconut Grove since 1982.”
The Strut started in the 1980s as a parody of the King Orange Jamboree Parade, which celebrated college football every year until it stopped running in the 2000s.
The parade has since evolved into a community tradition. The website says the annual Strut attracts more than 10,000 attendees “who never lost touch with its eccentric, bohemian roots.”
