The Highland County Christmas Parade is Back This Year

The Highland County Christmas Parade will be back this year.  The Highland County Recreation Commission is organizing the parade for the evening of Wintertide, the first weekend in December.   Jessy Wilfong is the Director of the Highland County Recreation Commission.

“We are encouraging any and everyone to participate,” says Wilfong.  “We’re not doing any prizes or any competition, anything like that.  It’s simply to spread Christmas cheer and we hope to have any and everybody.  So, I want to emphasize we can do floats, we can do antique vehicles, tractors or even open to walkers.  I believe the cloggers and the Fire Queens will be walking and the cloggers will be performing as we go through, with stops.  So, it truly can be anyone.  It doesn’t have to be just a float.”

The Christmas parade will take a reverse route from the fair parade route.  It will start at the school parking lot, will travel up Main Street and end at The Highland Center.

“So, Wintertide will take place during that day,” says Wilfong.  “All local businesses have been encouraged to stay open later and then we’re going to have our parade coming through at 5:30 and then everyone can mingle afterwards. We will also be encouraging everyone along Main Street, all the businesses and homes, to decorate to kind of give it the Hallmark feel for Christmas.  We are anticipating it to be a lighted parade, so several of the floats are going to be lighted.”

Wilfong said this year all the details, including the VDOT permit, came together for the parade.

“We actually have talked about it for the past two years now and timing-wise it has not worked out,” says Wilfong.  “So, this year we were able to get our permit application in early and we were approved.  So, we’re excited to bring it back.”

The Highland County Christmas Parade is Saturday, December 2, beginning at 5:30pm.

For information, or to register to participate, email Jessy Wilfong at hcrc@highlandcountyrecreation.org  She needs to know a contact name, an organization name and the type of entry – a float, a vehicle or walking.

All parade registrations are due by Thursday, November 30.