Patagonia National Day Parade 2021

The 2021 Patagonia National Day Parade was the 90th edition of the annual Patagonia National Day Parade, held yearly since 1931. As per tradition it included the ceremonial parade-and-ceremony segment, as well as the traditional show segment.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event was held at 80% capacity, however social distancing was not made mandatory, only the wearing of face masks.

## Parade and ceremony

The parade and ceremony commenced at 5pm at the Patagonian National Stadium in Port Davis. The traditional marchpast lineup included:

* The Parade Commander
* The Regimental Colours
* The Military Colour Trio
* Guards of Honour
* Cadet Schools (Army and Police)
* Patagonian Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force)
* National Military Police
* Medical Corps
* PAF Volunteer Corps
* Patagonian Federal Police
* Civil Defence Patagonia
* Federal Immigration and Checkpoints Authority
* Customs Bureau
* National Cadet Corps
* Federal Police Cadet Corps
* Federal Civil Defence Corps
* Scouts and Guides Patagonia
* Patagonian Red Cross
* St. John's Ambulance Brigade
* Boys' Brigade of Patagonia
* Girls' Brigade of Patagonia
* PAF-R&A Servicemen Association
* Parade contingents of universities
	+ Patagonian National University
	+ Contingents from other universities
	+ Contingents from polytechnic institutions
* Incumbent political party contingents
* Contingents of government ministries
* Civilian contingents
	+ Public Radio and Television of Patagonia
	+ Patagonian International Airways
	+ Petropatagonia
	+ LGBTQ+ Union of Port Davis
	+ Furries in Port Davis
	+ DJ Doge's Food Shack
	+ Trade Unions Federation of Patagonia
	+ Patagonia Telecom
	+ Patagonian Central Bank

## Show segment

### ships and ships and ships

This segment, celebrating Patagonian multiculturalism, is set to the tune of Cyriak's "Cows and Cows and Cows", the segment's title even alluding to it. Multiple groups of twelve performers in English, Welsh, Andalusian, Scottish, French, German and Italian folk costumes (among other European folk costumes), each using cards and poles with sails to resemble ships, circle around a platform full of multiple groups of six (in star formations) wearing costumes of indigenous groups (Mapuche, Tehuelche, Selk'nam and Chono among others). At 29 seconds' mark, the "ships" were put away and the performers blended with the indigenous performers within ten seconds, just in time for conga lines of people in more folk costumes (including South African, Ukrainian, Indian, Chinese, Argentine, American, Canadian and Filipino) to emerge from all eight entrances to the stadium and disperse at the 60-second mark of the song.

Within one minute and 22 seconds of the song, the dancers dispersed to make way for a hole from which various people in Patagonian folk costumes and dresses emerged. Twenty seconds later all dancers had been evenly distributed and started dancing simultaneously to the music before moving into a formation displaying the outline of Patagonia.

### This is Patagonia

The segment was meant as tribute to modern Patagonia. 320 performers, representing Patagonia's 32 million-strong population, entered the stadium to the tune of Cyriak's "Circle World", carrying with them "houses", tree props, and inflatable cartoon renditions of Patagonian landmarks such as the Calafate glacier, Mount Fitzroy, Mount Osorno and Cerro Torre. They also moved effigies of skyscrapers and monuments of Port Davis, including the Presidential Palace, the PTP Tower, the Westbury Bridge, Parliament House and the John Davis Clock Tower.

Later on, the music changed to "Cycles" as Huw Lyons, playing his YouTube avatar Robby, appeared inside a larger house replica that was pulled by truck into the stadium. He then put on his Robby persona's clothes and got on his magenta and mint green skateboard, proceeding to roll around the streets and meeting a host of performers carrying cards displaying a tunnel, which dispersed revealing where the inflatable Calafate stood. Lyons later turned right and appeared to skateboard into the Port Davis skyline while effigies of landmarks of various cities in Patagonia (Johnson Clock Tower in New Dartmouth, Neuquén City Church in Neuquén, and the skyscrapers in Oshovia) were walked around by performers.

An LED screen was placed in front of him, and the camera was rotated to give out the illusion of Lyons performing a skateboard trick, with a wind machine being blown in front of him for added effect. The tunnel card formation returned, and Lyons reappeared in front of the Port Davis skyline before returning home. The performance ended with Lyons moving back inside the house prop. Suddenly, the stadium was darkened and the houses, trees and effigies gathered into a ring, inside which the year "2020" was projected, symbolizing the year of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was silence for 30 seconds, each second representing 100 Patagonians killed daily by coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the hole opened in the middle of the stadium again, and from it, various dancers representing frontline workers emerged. They later spread out across the stadium and did a ballet dance routine, before forming the year "2021", as a "cannon" in the shape of an injection needle, representing the COVID vaccine, was brought into the stadium by Lyons, as well as various Patagonian YouTubers. Also present were Coyhaique-based author Lane Parsons, who wrote "A Hero Am I", a poem dedicated to frontline workers.

The "frontliner" ballerinas, as well as 320 performers in cardboard knight armor, performed a combat dance routine as the YouTubers tried to fire cannonballs (represented by vials of the COVID vaccine) towards a balloon representing the coronavirus pandemic, depicted as an actual coronavirus. After four tries, the fifth cannon firing managed to hit its target and lead to the balloon's deflation, to much cheering from the audience.

### And Lifelines Go On

The final segment touches on the far future of the universe. Arriving in the stadium were multiple large inflatable balls resembling planets and larger stars, as well as eight large inflatable renditions of the eight primary celestial planets and the Sun, and multiple other balloons with the word "universe" in the various Patagonian languages. Strings of balloon arches were also launched into the stadium resembling the Oort Cloud and asteroid belts. A larger ball with the Patagonian flag on it appeared in the middle of the stadium surrounded by the orrery effigies.