A time honored tradition, the Lynchburg Christmas Parade, turns 60 this year! The parade, hosted by Lynchburg Retail Merchants Association, will be held on Sunday, December 8th from 4pm – 6pm, starting at the Lynchburg City Stadium. With the theme this year being “Sparkling Through Time,” we will be able to see how our City’s long history of coming together to bring in the holiday cheer. Take a look into the history of this favorite Christmas pastime.
December 2, 1960 (Image via The News and Advance)
A Christmas Tradition
This favorite Christmas event began in 1959 and was first held in Downtown Lynchburg. Downtown would be filled with onlookers, excited to see the varying Christmas floats and hear the high school bands play down the streets. Its original route was to go up Main Street and then down Church Street, and it remained there until 2016, when the parade was relocated to its current midtown location.
December 3, 1970 (Image via The News and Advance)
When the parade first began, it was hosted by the Lynchburg Jaycees. Then in 2003, The Fire Foundation (formerly the Lynchburg Fire & EMS Foundation) became the host, followed by the handing off the hosting to the Retail Merchants Association in 2013.
December 3, 1985 (Image via The News and Advance)
You won’t want to miss out on being part of this tradition. To enjoy this fun event, you and your loved ones can view the parade anywhere along the parade route: It begins at City Stadium onto Fort Avenue, takes a left onto Oakley Avenue, a right onto Memorial Avenue and then ends at E.C. Glass High School.
(Image via Lynchburg Christmas Parade)