The Christmas parade season kicks off tonight in Starkville where the theme will be “Christmas in Whoville.”
The parade begins at 6 p.m. and starts at the intersection of Lampkin and Russell streets. Approximately 70 parade entries will travel north on Montgomery Street before taking a left onto Main Street.
Jennifer Prather, special events coordinator for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, said all of the floats will be decorated with the Dr. Seuss theme.
“Our parade is a great showcase of the businesses and organizations in Starkville and they all really aim to impress the crowd with their best showcase of the theme,” she said.
Prather encouraged people to try to park on the edges of downtown and then walk to the place where they’ll be watching the parade. Spectators typically arrive an hour before the parade begins, she added.
“Every year we see people start to line up about an hour or so before the parade,” Prather said. “We do encourage people to come from the outer edges of downtown and try to park in the bank parking lots. The roads won’t be closed completely, but they will start to clear those roads as the parade comes through so they have room.”
The grand marshal for the parade will be representatives from the 2013 Mississippi State baseball team. And, of course, Santa will also make an appearance.
Although it was raining this morning, Prather said the forecast for the parade is favorable.
“The weather is supposed to clear off and the temperature will be perfect. Now that Thanksgiving is over, everyone is truly in the Christmas spirit and the parade is a great way to stay in that spirit.”
The West Point parade will also begin tonight and kicks off at 6:30. Road closures will begin at 5 p.m.
Caledonia’s Christmas parade will roll at 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by the Crawford Christmas parade on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. and the Columbus Christmas Parade on Dec. 14 at 5:30 p.m.
The Columbus Parade was originally scheduled for today, but pushed back in order to secure an appearance by the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales, which are also appearing in the Tupelo Christmas Parade on Dec. 12.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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