Liberation Day is Guam’s very own holiday. It recognizes the day Guam was liberated from Japanese control. It’s a pretty big deal...like a Fourth of July take two, but 100 times bigger. The whole island shuts down for the day. The streets close. Everyone gathers on the main drag and barbeques while they wait for……The Liberation Day Parade! Josh and I have been hearing about Liberation Day and The Parade (July 21st…yes, I’m a bit late in posting!) since we arrived here in April. Neither of us are big parade goers, especially Josh. I like parades, but I could do without the heat and the crowds that generally go with them. Nevertheless, we had to check it out this year…had to see what all the fuss was about! So, we got up bright and early on Josh’s day off and made our way down to the festivities. The heat was killer, seriously. We even sweated bullets in the car with the air-conditioning going!
But, we were committed (and more importantly, we had carpooled!). We chatted and sweated, and waited and sweated, and finally, the parade began with the passing-by of about 100 very noisy motorcycles. After the motorcycles came…nothing. Apparently, the cyclists like to make their own statement every year, and they do a drive-by before the parade begins. So, we waited a little longer, got a little more sun burnt, and then, finally, the parade began for real. It started off with a Marine Corps Band playing Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis,” which was awesome. I could have listened to them play all day long! But, they soon moved on, and we spectators turned our attention to various interesting floats and performers. There were no balloons a la Macy’s Day Parade or completely flower floats a la Rose Parade, but Guam’s floats had their own unique charm. For instance, there was the float for the village of Yigo, which consisted of a mobile barbeque. The people on the float cooked their food, ate it, and waved at their very hungry audience. Only on Guam! We coveted the fresh barbeque for a while, but we were continually distracted by lots of free handouts (T-shirts, decks of cards, candy galore, water, ice cream, soda, origami, folders, notebooks, hats, etc…). It was actually quite fun…for about the first hour! The parade started around 9:30am, and when we finally left around 1:30pm, it was still going strong. Wow, Guam doesn’t kid around when it comes to the Liberation Day Parade! And they don’t kid around when it comes to Liberation Day Fireworks, either!
The show that night was at least 25 minutes long and probably the best fireworks show I have ever seen. Josh and I watched the fireworks on the beach with the sand in our toes and the waves lapping at our ankles, thinking, “Wow, we are so amazingly lucky to be here!” I doubt we’ll attend the parade festivities again (I believe those 4 hours gave us our parade fix for the next several years!), but it was quite the cultural experience and well worth the heat. Next year, we’ll escape the crowd by snorkeling all day on some deserted beach, and then we’ll take our kayak out to sea to watch the fireworks. Gee whiz, I think I caught the Liberation Day bug…I already can’t wait!!
But, we were committed (and more importantly, we had carpooled!). We chatted and sweated, and waited and sweated, and finally, the parade began with the passing-by of about 100 very noisy motorcycles. After the motorcycles came…nothing. Apparently, the cyclists like to make their own statement every year, and they do a drive-by before the parade begins. So, we waited a little longer, got a little more sun burnt, and then, finally, the parade began for real. It started off with a Marine Corps Band playing Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis,” which was awesome. I could have listened to them play all day long! But, they soon moved on, and we spectators turned our attention to various interesting floats and performers. There were no balloons a la Macy’s Day Parade or completely flower floats a la Rose Parade, but Guam’s floats had their own unique charm. For instance, there was the float for the village of Yigo, which consisted of a mobile barbeque. The people on the float cooked their food, ate it, and waved at their very hungry audience. Only on Guam! We coveted the fresh barbeque for a while, but we were continually distracted by lots of free handouts (T-shirts, decks of cards, candy galore, water, ice cream, soda, origami, folders, notebooks, hats, etc…). It was actually quite fun…for about the first hour! The parade started around 9:30am, and when we finally left around 1:30pm, it was still going strong. Wow, Guam doesn’t kid around when it comes to the Liberation Day Parade! And they don’t kid around when it comes to Liberation Day Fireworks, either! 
The show that night was at least 25 minutes long and probably the best fireworks show I have ever seen. Josh and I watched the fireworks on the beach with the sand in our toes and the waves lapping at our ankles, thinking, “Wow, we are so amazingly lucky to be here!” I doubt we’ll attend the parade festivities again (I believe those 4 hours gave us our parade fix for the next several years!), but it was quite the cultural experience and well worth the heat. Next year, we’ll escape the crowd by snorkeling all day on some deserted beach, and then we’ll take our kayak out to sea to watch the fireworks. Gee whiz, I think I caught the Liberation Day bug…I already can’t wait!!
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