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Special Events & Filming

Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, 5k Run / Walk and Festival

Sunday, January 14, 2024, 6:00am - 5:30pm
Join us on Harbor Drive for the 42nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, 5k Run / Walk and Festival. This is one of the largest celebrations of its kind in the United States in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. The parade is filled with dazzling floats, phenomenal High School Bands, Drill Teams, Colleges /Universities, Fraternities & Sororities, Churches, Peace and Youth organizations. This event is coordinated by the Zeta Sigma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the oldest African American fraternity in America, founded in 1906. The seven men who founded this organization at Cornell University in Ithaca New York recognized the need for a strong bond of Brotherhood among African descendants in this country. Dr. King was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. Come and join your community and help continue the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. This event supports scholarship funding for San Diego's youth.

Location: We'd like our event to begin at the corner of Grape and Harbor Dr.. We'd also like the parade to travel southbound down Harbor Dr., left on Broadway and Right on Pacific Hwy, disbanding near Seaport Village. We'd like a stage set up on the southbound side of Harbor Dr. across from Wyndham hotel (general vicinity).

The 5k Run / Walk shall follow the same path as the parade then cross into Ruocco park and wind through the Embarcaderro sidewalks with an ending at Ruocco park. We'd like to set up Ruocco park with a festival atmosphere with resource tables / tents, vendors and music.

5k Run / Walk:
1. Begin staging 5k at Grape and Harbor Dr. - Ash St. Sunday, 1/14 @7am. 5k Walk/Run begins 9:30am.
2. 9:30am begin 5k southbound on Harbor Dr.
3. Turn left onto W. Broadway. (~9:45am)
4. Turn right on Pacific Hwy. (~9:50am)
5. Cross Harbor Dr. at “Dead Mans Point”. (10:00am)
6. Use sidewalks next to and behind Ruocco Park and Embarcadero along waterfront to South Embarcadero and back to Ruocco Park for the finish. (~10:30am)
7. Walking takes ~1 hr for the 3.1 miles per Google Maps.
8. Parade to begin on same route at 10am, but will end on Pacific Hwy near Embassy suites for the disbanding area ~12:30pm. See info. below. No need for the parade to use Embarcadero sidewalks.
9. Moving portions of event ends ~12:30pm.

1492 N Harbor Dr
San Diego, CA

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