Much-loved Parade of Lights makes an exciting return to downtown Champaign after celebrating last year’s holiday season in a virtual format
Get ready to celebrate a “blue Christmas” themed parade this year with your family as Champaign-Urbana kicks off the holiday season with this traditional parade and festivities
Santa, we know him! And now we have one more reason to look forward to the 2021 holiday season in Champaign-Urbana — Santa will be riding into downtown Champaign on a brightly lit float to celebrate the official beginning of the holidays while children from all over our community wave and cheer. The Champaign Center Partnership has announced that the traditional Parade of Lights will return, live and in-person, to Champaign this November.
It’s no secret we love parades here at chambanamoms.com, so we leapt a little when we saw that the Parade of Lights official planning is underway for 2021! Save the date for the annual parade, coming this year on Saturday, Nov. 27, in downtown Champaign.
This year’s theme will be “Blue Christmas/Holidays,” so expect lots of blue lights and “Elvis elves” as part of this year’s celebration. There will be lighted floats, live entertainment (did someone say marching bands?) and lots of FREE holiday-themed fun at the Parade of Lights.
And while there won’t be candy thrown from floats for this year’s parade, children can participate in a “candy crawl” throughout downtown in the hours leading up to the parade. There will also be horse and carriage rides, visits with Santa, and live musical entertainment. Did we mention it is all FREE?!
Did you enjoy last year’s “shoebox parade” from home? Kids and adults can submit “mini-floats” for display throughout downtown and yes, it will be a competition, too.
We are hearing of more community plans for the winter holiday season with every week that brings us closer to December so stay tuned for more exciting announcements. And get excited for the Parade of Lights in November!
