Raleigh Christmas Parade

I’ve been attending the [WRAL] Christmas parade for two years now, and this now 71 year annual downtown tradition does not disappoint. A couple quick things to note if you plan to attend the parade. Start time is 9:40a, but plan to arrive early if you’re driving in as parking and traffic WILL be insane. If you arrive after the parade has started and plan to try to get downtown, use a non-​parade walking street. Once parade watchers have found their spot, entire streets will be consumed and foot traffic (especially on Hillsborough) will be next to impossible.
The parade begins on Hillsborough Street at St. Mary’s crossroad, proceeds to the State Capitol and does a quick 90 degree turn {right onto Salisbury and left onto Morgan} with a final right onto Fayetteville Street and continues to Lenoir Street where it disbands. Central Plaza (the end of Fayetteville) usually has an accumulation of activities including the Ipreo Ice Rink, which kicks off it’s grand opening following the parade each year, a BBQ festival and it’s possible you’ll even find some historic Christmas Carolers. The 1.4 mile parade route includes everything from floats [both grounded and in the sky] to marching bands, non-​profit groups, beauty queens and of course Santa Clause comes to greet all at the end. You’ll be entertained for 2.5 hours with both traditional and Raleigh original parade marchers.
The big question most people have about this parade is, why does it take place pre-​Thanksgiving? But the tradition dates back to the year os 1939 to an idea thought up by downtown Raleigh shop owners to drum by business for the holidays. We’re not about the break this long standing tradition today and I personally love a parade to kick off Christmas season rather than Black Friday! And, if you’re not able to make it downtown for the parade, you can watch it from 10a-​12p on both WRAL-​TV & UNC-​TV the day of the parade (but little tip: you can also stream it from the WRAL website following the parade as well!) Overall, the Raleigh Christmas Parade makes for a great family or individual activity. It will get you in the holiday spirit and the only negative for some might be the enormous crowds that it draws in.