Sunday, November 19, 2006

Christmas: Halifax's Parade of Lights

Sounds like this year's parade was it's biggest ever! Cool! The Parade of Lights is an annual event in Halifax - it's a parade held at night, and all the floats are lit up with bright colorful lights. It was funny, one year when we went, a guy from out of town was one of the last people to drive down the road before it was closed down for the parade, and he started to slow down, wondering why all the people were lining the streets. He yelled out "Whatcha guys waiting for?" And someone yelled back "A parade!" and he laughed "A parade? At NIGHT???!!" And we all yelled back "Its the parade of lights!" He had to drive off then, but I'm betting he rushed back once he found a place to park so he could see a parade at night - who ever heard of such a thing?! :D Really funny, and I know it sounds like a strange concept, but the floats are so lovely with their Christmas lights, and there's clowns, marching bands, and of course, Santa -- I think it's actually more popular than the daytime parades we have here during Natal Day (a day celebrating the city's founding, held in August). :)

When I lived in Halifax, I used to live on the parade route, so I got to see it every year - it really is a lot of fun, especially for the kids, and helps kick start our holiday season here in the HRM. The Chronicle Herald has a really nice slide show of the event (with sound), so you can get a feel for how it went. And you can read more about the event here.