The Greater Valdosta Christmas Parade Committee has rescheduled the 2018 Greater Valdosta Community Christmas Parade. The parade will be held on Sunday, December 9, at 2:30 p.m. Line up for the event will begin at noon. 

"I want to thank the parade committee for considering my request to reschedule the parade. The annual Christmas Parade is a staple in the community. It is a time to come together and kick off the holiday season. Many groups spend weeks, if not months preparing their floats and we want all of their hard work to be seen,” said City Manager Mark Barber. “We hope it will still be a fun time for the Valdosta/Lowndes County Community."

The original parade scheduled for December 1 was canceled due to inclement weather which over the weekend brought more than 10 inches of rain to Valdosta/Lowndes County. The decision to cancel the parade was not an easy one but the parade committee did so for the safety and protection of all of those participating and attending.

It takes many different moving parts to make the Christmas Parade a successful event each year. Many of the preparations start months ahead of the scheduled date. The City of Valdosta Engineering Department spends several days placing barricades out in the street on the parade route, Public Safety officials plan work extra duty to provide security for the event, an insurance policy for the event has to be secured, the Georgia Department of Transportation has to approve to close down state routes in which the parade travels, and equipment must be rented from the Valdosta Lowndes Parks and Recreation Association such as bleachers and the show-mobile. All of these things take an immense amount of planning but due to strong relationships within the community the parade committee has been able to make it come together in a short amount of time.

Please join us for this year’s 2018 Greater Valdosta Community Christmas Parade on Sunday, December 9, at 3 p.m. The parade will be a Toyland Christmas theme. It will begin at Woodrow Wilson Drive and will lead a path down Patterson Street ending at the Department of Health’s parking lot.

If you would like to participate in the parade you can pick up an application from the Valdosta Main Street office located at 300 N Lee Street. Just bring your application and entry fee on the day of the event. If you paid a late fee or cannot participate in the rescheduled event you can request a refund from the Ossipe Temple by calling 229-269-1681.