Friday, November 25th is the 37th Annual Holiday Parade hosted by our team at the Downtown Billings Alliance with the help presenting sponsor TDS Fiber. The parade begins at 6:30pm at 32nd and 2nd Ave. North. The Holiday Parade is a cherished tradition in Billings, that takes place each year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Each float is created by individual local businesses, organizations, and community groups wanting to share their holiday spirit with our community. The theme for this years parade is “Holiday Movies”. This year’s parade line-up has over fifty parade entries with the Eugene Sara Detachment, United States Marine Corp League at the front of the parade as the honor guard and Santa making an appearance in the parade finale on the Billings Fire Department’s Ladder Truck.
Our CEO, Katy Easton shares; “We are excited for the opportunity to pair Santa with some Billings First Responders in this year’s parade.”
Snap some photos with Santa
Prior to the kick off of the parade, presenting parade sponsor TDS Fiber teamed up with Valley Credit Union to offer a chance for the community to snap their own photos with Santa at no cost, from 4:30pm to 6:00pm inside of Valley Credit Union’s 2nd Ave. N. Branch (3100 2nd Ave. N.) located near Wise Wonders and the start of the parade route.
Catch the Live broadcast of the parade
For those unable to attend the parade in person, Community Seven Television will broadcast the parade live on their public network television channel over the air & online at comm7tv.com. New this year, Community Seven has partnered with Billings’ local CBS affiliate KTVQ to stream the parade live on the KTVQ mobile app as well. The parade will be moderated by Q2 News anchor Dianne Parker and morning Weatherman, Miller Robson.
parade judging
Our pal Willy Tyler, radio personality at The Zone 96.3 & My Classic Hits 105.9 (Desert Mountain Broadcasting) and his colleague Sara Taylor will help judge the parade floats from Bravera Bank at Skypoint (N. Broadway and 2nd Ave. N.). The additional judges are team members of parade sponsors TDS Fiber and White Heating and Air Conditioning. The judging categories include: Best Entry Overall, Best Float, Best Musical Entry, Best Costume, Best Interpretation of the Theme, Best Performers, and Most Original Entry. The 2021 Best Entry Overall award went to the Light the World float pictured above.
safety message
Our non-profit organization advocates for a vibrant and thriving downtown through community events like this parade, clean and safe programs, and economic development projects. We would like to remind the public that this is a free community event and public safety is our number one priority. Any and all handouts (candy or otherwise) will take place from the sidewalks behind the crowd and not from the parade route itself.
Parade floats will not be passing out candy from the parade route in compliance with City of Billings code and our parade safety policy