Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Bonnyville main street.
The town of Bonnyville has talked with local health officials and came to an agreement, the traditional Santa Claus parade will take to the streets.
Santa Claus and all the floats will make their way down the main street like this was a normal year without a global pandemic.
“We’re so excited that we’re able to get back to a regular parade after we had to cancel it last year,” expressed parade organizer Doreen Kushnir.
The parade begins at 5 p.m. with floats beginning to line up at 4 p.m.
Town of Bonnyville Mayor Elisa Brosseau added, “Council is excited to be able to walk the float down main street so all the kids and families can kick start Christmas holidays and see Santa.”
The event day has not changed and will still take place on Friday, December 10th. The route will be the usual one, with floats starting at the Player’s Lounge on main street and making their way to the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre.
Originally, the town could not think of a way of organizing the parade in a way where the safety of attendees and those involved with the event were ensured.
The town administration reached out to the local Health Officials and asked for clarification on the mandates surrounding parades.
“The Town knew how important it was to families to be able to have a bit of normalcy at Christmas after the last couple of years,” noted Robynne Henry, Communications Coordinator for the Town. “We just ask that families social distance from those outside of their cohorts and enjoy the event as safely as possible.”
Registration for floats is still open for local organizations and groups who would like to participate. Registration forms can be filled out until Wednesday, December 8th which can be found on the Town of Bonnyville Facebook page or at town.bonnyville.ab.ca.
Kushnir described the response as “overwhelmingly great.”
“We’ve had so many submissions so far! We extended the deadline to make sure that everyone who wants to participate can,” she added.