Holiday season kicks off with annual Raleigh Christmas Parade
Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of downtown Raleigh Saturday morning for the 71st annual WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade, presented by Shop Local Raleigh.
Posted — UpdatedThe parade wase hosted by WRAL-TV morning news personalities Bill Leslie and Renee Chou, with Brian Shrader serving as a street-side reporter.
This year’s parade included 115 entries, including marching bands, festive floats, giant balloons, animals, entertainers, specialty vehicles, plus special holiday surprises. And as always, a special North Pole visitor made an appearance at the end of the parade.
The parade route was 1.2 miles long, starting at the corner of Hillsborough and St. Mary’s streets. The parade traveled east on Hillsborough Street, turned south at the Capitol on Salisbury Street, east on Morgan and then made a final turn down Fayetteville Street.
This is the 42nd consecutive year that the event was broadcast live by WRAL-TV. The parade was also streamed live on WRAL.com and on the the WRAL News app, and viewers across North Carolina were able to watch the parade on UNC-EX.
The holiday fun wasn't going to stop when the parade ends.
The parade will be replayed on television Dec. 5, 12 and 19 at noon on WRAL2, plus a special holiday presentation on WRAL-TV at 4 p.m. on Christmas Day.
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