Downtown Edmonton will host outdoor Santa Claus parade in November
Better watch out, don't cry or pout … because Santa Claus is definitely coming to town — six months from now.
And he's planning to be outside.
Edmonton's first Santa Parade of Lights will be held outdoors and downtown this coming November.
RWE Events is organizing the parade.
They wanted to get the word out in plenty of time, which was why they were talking about winter on a sunny and sultry spring day.
"This parade is less than six months away, said Dean Heuman, vice-president of RWE Events. "We need entries. We need community groups and people who want to come and join us. And we need sponsors to help us make this happen."
Organizers are looking to have about 30 entries maximum, Heuman said, to keep the parade to about an hour.
The route will start at Jasper Avenue and 99th Street and finish there as well, after circling Sir Winston Churchill Square.
Coun. Scott McKeen said an outdoor parade fits perfect with Edmonton's winter-city strategy, which is intended to get people to embrace the season rather than huddle in their homes.
"It's an odd time of year to be talking about Christmas, obviously," McKeen said. "And people might reflexively go ho hum, instead of ho, ho, ho.
"On a day like this, it is hard to imagine snow. But we all know it will come soon enough."
The most exciting part of the new parade, he said, is that it will be held outdoors.
Last November, the city's indoor Christmas parade was cancelled after 26 years.
It took more than 200 volunteers and cost $40,000 for a parade that wound its way through the corridors and pedways of City Centre Mall and adjoining buildings
The new outdoor parade is set to go on Nov. 21, at 4:30 p.m..
