Put on your Santa hat and grab a hot cocoa–it’s almost time for Harrisburg’s annual holiday parade.
The 2016 parade, with a theme of “Making the Season Bright,” steps off tomorrow at noon from City Island with a long line of bands, floats, balloons, vintage cars and, of course, Santa. Participants will march up Market Street, turn on 2nd Street, make another turn on North Street, then follow Front Street back.
“This year’s parade will be very exciting,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. “We are anticipating a large crowd to join us along the parade route for this year’s holiday parade.”
Besides the marchers, food trucks will set up on Market Street between Front and 2nd streets.
Free parking will be available at the Market Square garage from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., which is sponsored by PSECU. In addition to free parking in the garage, parade attendees can utilize the Pango App and get up to 4 hours of free street parking using the “LUVHBG” code.
The Market Street Bridge will close at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday. Parade participants will be able to enter City Island from the West Shore. N. Front Street will close at 10 a.m. from Forster to Market streets. 2nd Street from Chestnut to North streets will be closed from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Traffic will detour east on Forster Street to N. 7th Street, south on 7th Street to Walnut Street, west on Walnut Street to N. 3rd Street, south on 3rd Street to Chestnut Street back to Front Street.
After the parade, the festivities move to Strawberry Square for hot chocolate and the awards ceremony. Trophies will be awarded to the top dance, step and drill team units, and cash prizes will be given to the top high school marching bands.
“I would like to especially thank our title sponsor, the Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau and our gold sponsor, PSECU.” Papenfuse said. “Without their support, we would not be able to put together this wonderful event.”
Author: Lawrance Binda
