Quinta Mazatlán earns 15 awards, McAllen Holiday Parade earns 23;

Parks, Convention Center earn one each

Courtesy  Laura D. Garcia,

(McAllen, Texas)-The City of McAllen continues to set the standard for quality and entertaining events, with the hardware to back up those claims.  McAllen employees who organize and promote events including the McAllen Holiday Parade, McAllen International CarFest, McAllen Marathon Scott Crane Memorial Run and the various programs at Quinta Mazatlan came back from the 63^rd Annual International Festivals and Events Conference and Haas & Wilkerson Pinnacle Awards Ceremony with a total of 40 awards, including 10 Gold, 20 Silver and 10 Bronze.  This year’s McAllen Holiday Parade earned four gold awards including the coveted Best Parade in the World for the second year in a row and Quinta Mazatlan walked away with six gold awards.

“We are so proud of the hard work, dedication and passion by the City of McAllen departments who work to produce quality events that are fun, affordable and showcase all that our great city of McAllen has to offer,” said McAllen City Manager Roel “Roy” Rodriguez, P.E.  “While our events are competing against festivals and events around the world and are being recognized for the creativity and professionalism that are demonstrated, the real award is the smile on the faces of the thousands of people who attend and participate in all of our events.  That is why we do these events: for our residents and the visitors of our amazing community.”

Sponsored by industry leader Haas & Wilkerson Insurance, the professional competition draws entries from some of the world’s top festivals and events.  Winning entries came from organizations as diverse as the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.; the Kentucky Derby Festival in Louisville, KY and the Fiesta Bowl in Scottsdale, AZ.  International winners included such diverse event organizations as RedFilo Events, Abu Dhabi; Destination Sydney, Australia; Guangdong Chimelong Group, China; and Cuckoo Events, Ireland, to name a few.

The McAllen Holiday Parade racked up a total of 23 awards, including four Gold, 16 Silver and three Bronze.  The largest illuminated holiday and helium balloon parade in Texas is the only parade in the Rio Grande Valley to have twice been the Best Parade in the World by the IFEA in its budget category.  Gold Awards were handed out in 69 different categories, including Best Event Video Promotion; Best Volunteer Program; Best Media Relations Campaign and of course, the coveted Best Parade nod. Earlier this summer, the Mcallen Holiday Parade was once again named the Best Parade in Texas by another leading industry organization, the Texas Festivals and Events Association, the only parade in South Texas to earn this distinction two years in a row.