Holiday Countdown: Santa’s Light Parade glides into Victoria on Saturday

CHEK

WATCH: Santa is coming to town this weekend to kick off the holiday season on Vancouver Island. Ceilidh Millar reports. 

Santa Claus will make an appearance this weekend at the 37th Annual Santa’s Light Parade.

The treasured event on Vancouver Island is billed as the largest night-time Christmas parade in Canada.

Members from the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Victoria were busy on Friday preparing their entry for this year’s parade.

“We like to be at all the parades in town to spread the word about what we do,” said Ray Hawksworth of The Fraternal Order of Eagles. “This is part of the hard work we do beforehand to get ready for all of that.”

There are at least 75 entries, including 20 floats, and more than 2,000 participants taking part in this year’s parade.

“It’s fun when you can get it all built and go downtown and see all the faces of the kids,” explained Richard Parker of The Fraternal Order of Eagles. “It’s a lot of fun.”

More than 65,000 people are expected to line the parade route along Government Street which will be filled with carolers, floats, lights, music and the spirit of the holidays.

In 1998, the parade switched from a daytime event to a lighted nighttime affair.

While the event is free, volunteers from the Mustard Seed Food Bank will be on hand to collect donations of warm clothing, cash and non-perishable food items.

There will also be drop off stations along the parade route.

The parade starts out front of the B.C. Legislature and travels along Government to Chatham Street.

Stacy Ross, Jeff King and Ceilidh Millar will host the TV broadcast of the parade on CHEK News starting at 4:50 PM on Saturday.

A live stream of the parade will also be available online on the CHEK News Facebook page. 

Ceilidh MillarCeilidh Millar

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