The cool interactive map for the two big Fiesta street parades is now active.

Need chairs for the Battle of Flowers or Fiesta Flambeau parades? Pretend your cursor is a float (or not!). Move it down the red parade route, and you'll see the street names for each block. Click, and you'll see the contact information for the nonprofit groups selling chairs in that area.

More than 100 small groups--Scout troops, PTAs, church groups, civic clubs and more--raise thousands of dollars each year through their street chair sales. For many it's their biggest fundraiser. Tickets are $10 each again this year.

It's a great system. But it's not perfect. The Fiesta Commission gets calls each year from folks wondering why most front-row seats are already gone, even when people call really early. That's because many of the organizations have been selling the chairs for years, and they have a lot of steady customers. It's the free enterprise system at work!

We encourage everyone to keep the street chair contact info handy after Fiesta and make a call in December or early January for the next year. But keep in mind that the contact person may change during that time.

Oh, and make another note. Fiesta dates for 2011 don't follow the normal pattern of including April 21, San Jacinto Day. To avoid a conflict with Good Friday, Fiesta in 2011 will be April 7-17.