San Antonio's Martin Luther King Jr. March is the largest of its kind in the nation. For the second consecutive year, the march has been canceled to mitigate COVID-19 transmission.
With COVID-19 transmission surging in Bexar County, San Antonio's MLK Commission has decided to cancel its annual parade and instead honor the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a virtual observance.
"We are exercising safety and health of our community. Our hospitals are already full. The judge and mayor have been doing an incredible job of making sure we get vaccinated. That we get boostered and the testing," Commission Chair Renee Watson said.
More than 300,000 people participated in the 2020 march — the last time it was held in-person.
Instead of a march, the MLK Commission will offer COVID-19 testing and vaccinations and a blood drive next Monday in Pittman-Sullivan Park, where the now-canceled march traditionally ends.
The site will be open between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and a community-produced MLK observance will air online next Monday at 10 a.m. on TVSA.
