East LA's Mexican Independence Day parade honors pandemic heroes

EAST LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- East Los Angeles celebrated Mexican Independence Day with a parade and festival on Sunday.

The grand marshals of the event were Dodgers legendary pitcher Fernando Valenzuela and Katya Echazarreta, who was the first-ever Mexican-born woman to journey into space in a Blue Origin rocket earlier this year.

The annual parade is the nation's largest and oldest Latin parade, now in its 76th year. ABC7 broadcasted the entire parade.

This year, the theme of the parade was "United for strong physical and mental health," honoring heroes of the pandemic. The route, which is approximately 1.3 miles, started at Cesar Chavez and Mednik avenues and ends at Cesar Chavez and Gage avenues.