It may rain on Rock Hill’s Christmas parade. But the show will go on, organizers say

Andrew Dys
·2 min read
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There will not be snow for Rock Hill’s Christmas parade and the annual ChristmasVille festival, but there could be rain.

The shows will go on even if there is inclement weather, city and festival officials said Thursday.

“Rain or shine, ChristmasVille is still going to be fantastic,” ChristmasVille vice chair Maddie Ewing said on Thursday.

The annual Rock Hill parade that starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday is York County’s largest holiday march. It’s accompanied by ChristmasVille that kicked off Thursday and is an award-winning event that has been featured in Southern Living. ChristmasVille runs through Sunday.

The weather: Could be a Grinch

Friday has a 50-60% chance of showers, according to the National Weather Service forecast for Rock Hill. Saturday rain chances are forecast as 80%, the weather service said.

Below-freezing cold weather from earlier this week will be gone. High temperatures will be in the 50s Friday and 60s over the weekend, according to the weather service. Low temperatures will only drop to the low 50s.

The parade

Even if there’s rain, Friday night’s parade will go down Oakland Avenue adjacent to the Winthrop University campus and to downtown Rock Hill, said Katie Quinn, spokesperson for the city of Rock Hill.

Dozens of lighted entries are expected, including bands, floats, and Santa Claus himself.

The parade attracts thousands of watchers each year.

For any updates to the parade, see the Rock Hill Parks, Recreation & Tourism Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rockhillprt.

ChristmasVille

The ChristmasVille festival fills Main Street in Rock Hill from Dave Lyle Boulevard to Caldwell Street. That stretch of road will be closed to vehicle traffic through Sunday night, city officials and the Rock Hill Police Department said.

Santa talks to a Vernon Grant gnone during the opening ceremony of ChristmasVille.
Santa talks to a Vernon Grant gnone during the opening ceremony of ChristmasVille.

There will be almost 70 events through the festival, including horse-drawn carriage rides, historic tours, music, theater, dance, a gingerbread house contest, Santa activities and an ice skating rink.

Ewing said there are indoor and outdoor events planned. Festival officials are closely watching the weather and will update festival social media sites if any adjustments are made, according to Ewing and postings on the festival’s Facebook page.

Real-time weather updates, more info

For updates on any weather impact through Sunday, visit the ChristmasVille Facebook page at facebook.com/ChristmasVille.

For a complete list of Christmasville events, go to christmasvillerockhill.com.

For a list of road closures through Sunday, visit facebook.com/cityofrockhill.