With the leaves have fallen, and the temperature begins to drop, its that time of year again. Winter brings celebration, joy and a little bit of chaos around town with shoppers going in and out of stores buying Christmas gifts for friends and family. On December 3, the 31st Annual Fredericksburg Christmas Parade took place downtown at 5:30 pm. This classic Fredericksburg staple attracts people from all over the town and neighboring counties, and it includes countless floats, dance team’s, fundraising organizations, and marching bands from local high schools.

This year the parade started off with a police mounted horse unit; the crowd erupted in a cheer as they moved down the street. Other floats followed with decorations of all kinds including lights, glitter, blow-up characters, and sets from various classic Christmas scenes. Haylee Coppage, senior at RHS, said “My favorite Christmas float was the sign language float because it’s was cool and cute.” The sign language float was also one of the largest floats present at the parade; it was built upon a tractor trailer bed. One of the most interesting parts of the float was that the sign language was being done by about 15 small children on each side of the float, so everyone could see them. Senior Sarah Pattillo had her first time experiencing the parade this year, Pattillo said “ I loved the parade. It was really enjoyable and had lots of Christmas spirit, that was my favorite part overall.”

The parade is a great way to spend your time and indulge in the full Christmas spirit, It’s a great time to be spent with family and friends. It has  been bringing Christmas spirit to Fredericksburg since 1985. If you missed it this year, be sure to get downtown early next year to get a front row seat.