Elizabeth Trovall/Houston Public Media
Marching bands, dancers and community organizations showed up to the two MLK parades held Jan. 21, 2019.
Houston has historically had two major Martin Luther King Jr. Day parades. The two groups that have put on those events are uniting this year to host the city’s first MLK Unity Parade.
The parade has been planned in collaboration with the City of Houston, the Black Heritage Society and the MLK Grande Parade. For the past several decades, the Black Heritage Society and MLK Grande Parade have hosted their own individual MLK Day parades to honor the life and legacy of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday will be the first time in more than 30 years that the city has hosted a single, unified parade.
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Speaking during a Houston City Council meeting Wednesday, Mayor John Whitmire said unifying the two MLK Day parades into one had long been a goal of his.
“When I got elected … I found out San Antonio has a larger parade than Houston and I said, ‘Well, we can’t do that,’ ” Whitmire said. “And my advisors — that have been in the city longer than me — said, ‘Don’t go there, mayor, don’t go there.’ For over 40 years, we’ve had two parades for the same purpose, and in my judgment, it was not the best way to honor Dr. King. It was stretching resources.”
Since 1995, there have been two MLK Day parades in Houston. The first MLK Day parade in the city took place in 1978 and was hosted by the Black Heritage Society. According to the society, it was the first MLK Day parade in the nation.
This year’s parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 19, at the intersection of Smith and Lamar streets in downtown Houston. The parade will proceed down Smith Street, turn right on Walker Street, then turn right again on Milam Street. The procession will then turn right on Pease Street and right on Louisiana Street. The parade will then turn left on Clay Street before turning right back onto Smith Street, with the parade ending at the intersection of Smith and Dallas streets.
Provided/City of Houston
A reception will take place before the parade at 9 a.m. The parade itself will feature 36 bands and three grand marshals: Whitmire, MLK Grande Parade Chairman and CEO Charles Stamps and KMJQ radio personality Madd Hatta.
The city announced the unity of the two parades last year, in June, when Whitmire said the two groups had “reached an agreement.” Since becoming mayor in 2024, unifying the city’s parades has been a focus of Whitmire.
Houston had two Pride parades in 2024 to celebrate the city’s LGBTQ+ community and its allies. But in 2025, there was only one Pride parade and festival, which was supported by Whitmire.
Stamps was present at Wednesday’s city council meeting and said this year’s parade is expected to have a record-breaking crowd.
“Our best estimate is that it’s going to exceed 400,000, depending on weather,” he said. “What we can gauge and calculate presently [is] there has never been an event, parade, or any otherwise, in the city of Houston that’s had this number of entries. On paper, it’s well over 300 entries.”
Houston Public Media’s Dominic Anthony Walsh contributed to this report.