Thaindian News

By Meena Kar
Nov 21, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The largest Christmas Parade, namely Raleigh Christmas Parade 2010 was held on Saturday between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. This 66th annual event was one of the best way to pump up the Christmas spirit, which is just round the corner. The event started at 9:30 in the morning from Hillsborough Street at St. Mary’s Street.

The parade lasted for two and a half hours and was aired at 10:00a.m. to 12:00p.m. on WRAL-TV. It will again be rebroadcast on the Christmas morning. The length of the parade route was almost 1.4 miles, that covered the scenic places of the town to give a visual treat to the participants. The route of the parade went through the State Capitol, then turning right towards the Salisbury Street. It again took a left turn to meet the Morgan St, and then merged with Fayetteville St, to finally get disbanded at Lenoir Street. The parade also included three award categories, namely, Best use of the imagination and innovation to depict the “Spirit of Raleigh”, Outstanding Showmanship & Design Concept to create dramatic impact and advance the art of float design. The awards also included the category of most entertaining through the use of animation and motion and finally the people’s choice award. The winners of these categories will be announced next week through polling. The event was hosted by Wral’s Bill Lesley, Kelcey Carlson with Brian Shrader, who grooved and cheered the participants on the road.

Unlike other parades, the Raleigh Christmas Parade has it own style and colors. It could be regarded as more like a carnival than just a parade. It includes band, twirlers, tunning costumes and decorative holiday cheer, and floats. With a flock of enthusiastic participants and a pleasant weather, the parade turned out to be a great success.