Columbia's Main Street Christmas Parade set to return Saturday
After a year lost to the pandemic, Columbia’s Main Street Christmas Parade returns Saturday for a weekend of holiday-themed happenings.
The City of Columbia, in partnership with the Columbia Main Street Corporation, invites the public to attend the annual Columbia Main Street Parade that will culminate in the lighting of the city’s four-story Christmas tree on the steps of the historic Maury County Courthouse in the center of the city's downtown.
"If you’re ready to experience a little hometown, Christmas cheer and celebration, I can’t think of a better way than this classic holiday event," said Kellye Murphy, Columbia's tourism and tourism and marketing director.
More: Christmas home tour to give guests festive walk through history
The parade attracts between 80 and 100 entrants, who compete in an annual float contest. Winners are selected based on scoring criteria for creativity, design, including materials, visual and audio presentation and their adherence to a theme.
Elected officials, local businesses, organizations, school bands and church and community groups will all march through the city in a grand return to the celebrated holiday event.
"We want to welcome everyone to come out to this much-anticipated event," Murphy said.
"There are more than 70 parade entries from vintage cars to cement trucks to holiday floats. Seasoned parade-goers will notice a few exciting changes this year. The parade and tree lighting have been combined into one event and everything is happening on a Saturday instead of the usual Monday event."
More: Shopping weekend draws record crowd to support local economy
More: Will this year's Maury County holiday season be its biggest yet?
The night time parade kicks off at 6 p.m. beginning at the intersection of Trotwood and W. 7th Street split and marches eastward down the traditional parade route into downtown Columbia.
The parade will last approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours and the event will then transition to the tree lighting ceremony at approximately 7:15 p.m. with live entertainment and the naming of parade float winners.
The evening will culminate in a grand finale — Santa Claus lighting Columbia's 40-foot Christmas tree on the Courthouse Square.
This year will mark the first time the Christmas parade and tree lighting will to be combined into a single event.
More: Factory at Columbia celebrates successes by launching first gala and Christmas market
More: Sharing joy: Maury community encouraged to help fulfill students' holiday wishes
Originally planned to be held in December 2020, the pandemic led to the decision to cancel the downtown holiday gathering that usually attracts thousands to downtown Columbia.
It marked the first time the parade had been canceled in its 34-year history.
The evening event will be preceded by special holiday happenings, including the county’s annual Maury Christmas Historic Home Tour hosted by the Maury County Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities and Columbia’s holiday-centric First Fridays shopping extravaganza and The Factory at Columbia’s Black Tie Gala featuring Cassandra Coleman.
Before the parade kicks-off on Saturday, The Factory will also host a Christmas market and Columbia’s downtown downtown antique retailers will host a holiday-themed shopping celebration with Columbia’s moat Wonderful Weekend of the Year.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Columbia's Main Street Christmas Parade set to return Saturday
