APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Downtown Appleton will be lighting up the streets yet again to kick off this Christmas season.
The 53rd Downtown Appleton Christmas Parade will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26. It is the biggest nighttime parade in the Midwest drawing over 80,000 spectators. This years theme is ‘The Avenue of Christmas Spirits’.
The route kicks off on the corner of State Street and College Avenue. It travels down College Avenue to Drew Street.
Corey Otis, Appleton parade committee member, says lots of planning goes into the event.
“We get together in August and determine a theme, we get the permits filled out, and we design the applications and get those out to the public,” said Otis. “This year we hit a record number of over 120 applications.”
The parade features almost 80 floats, over twenty marching bands from Northeast Wisconsin and Upper Michigan high schools.
Spectators can begin putting out their chairs and blankets along College Avenue or on the sidewalk starting at noon Tuesday and you must stay with your stuff.
For more information about the parade, head to the City of Appleton Parades Facebook page.
