The Wilmington Jaycees’ 55th Annual Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday, November 24 in downtown Wilmington at 11:00 a.m. For the tenth consecutive year, the Jaycees are holding the Parade on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in conjunction with Small Business Saturday, an American shopping holiday first observed in the U.S. on November 27, 2010, which encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are both small and local.
This annual Wilmington tradition – which features local celebrities and dignitaries, marching and string bands, statewide pageant winners, dance troupes, floats and antique cars, cartoon characters and much more – kicks off the holiday shopping season and is a great community-building event in the City. Mayor Purzycki will lead the parade atop the Patriotic Float, and 2018 World Team Gymnastics Champion, Morgan Hurd, will serve as Grand Marshall.
The “star of the show,” as always, will be Santa Claus. Children at the parade are encouraged to write a letter to Santa and drop it off when Santa passes along the parade route. (Children should provide their complete mailing address, including zip code, if they would like a reply.) The Wilmington Jaycees will work with Santa and his elves to make every effort to answer each letter.
The parade will begin at 5th and Market Streets and proceed north along Market Street to 11th Street (Rodney Square). It will then travel east on 11th Street to King Street, continue south on King Street and return to 4th Street. (In the event of rain, announcements for a delayed start will be made on local stations.)
The Wilmington Jaycees is a community, individual, and leadership development organization for individuals ages 21-40. The Jaycees are a proactive organization whose members devote themselves to community service in the public interest, to increasing and improving the skills of the individual, and to developing people as leaders of their community. The Wilmington Jaycees celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2016! Please visit www.wilmingtonjaycees.org for more information.
Road closures and parking restrictions on the parade route will be in effect from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 2:00 p.m. All vehicles will be restricted from using Market Street (between 2nd and 12th Streets), King Street (between 3rd and 12th Streets), and 4th Street between Walnut and Shipley streets. Also, all cross streets between Shipley Street and French Street will be closed (i.e., 3rd, 5th.6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th). The detours for Market Street and King Street are Shipley Street and Walnut Street respectively. The event will be staffed by Wilmington police officers to assist motorists with the detours.