Over the river and through the woods, through downtown Auburn we go.
The annual Auburn Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade has been moved to 10 a.m. Dec. 11 to allow the focus to be on the Auburn Tigers Dec. 4 in the SEC Championship game.
"It's open to the public, so anybody who wants to participate in our parade is welcome to," said Lolly Steiner, president of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce.
Steiner said the amount of participants has to be cut off at a certain number because the parade can only last so long.
"We have probably about 75 to 80 floats each year, and it starts right there at the gates of Samford Hall, right there on Thach," Steiner said.
The only thing different about the parade this year is that it is in the morning and on the weekend.
"It goes down College, downtown, down the hill through Toomer's, takes a right on Glenn and then takes the next right on Gay and then comes back and takes a right back onto Thach and comes back in the gates on the same route," Steiner said.
Steiner said people looking for the best spot to experience the parade should stand on Toomer's Corner or anywhere on College Street because those areas are well-lit.
Local high school marching bands will be belting out Christmas tunes, and there will also be appearances from beauty queens and Aubie.
"We'll have lots of nonprofit organizations put floats together and come out and lots of dance studios bring their children out, which they love," Steiner said.
Santa Claus will be riding at the end of the line in a fire truck, while throwing out candy to everyone watching the parade.
Steiner said the parade should only last an hour, but if drivers need a detour, they should use Mell Street off of College Street. She does not believe the parade will cause much inconvenience at its scheduled time.
"That's when merchants have lots of sales and activities going on post-parade," Steiner said. "Like they'll have Santa Claus down there for photo op, and they'll have lots of sales and promotions. We want to encourage people to stay in downtown Auburn and finish up their Christmas shopping or begin their Christmas shopping."
Peggy Ann Hall, manager of Wrapsody, said this will be the first year the stores downtown will have somewhat of an open house.
Many of the stores will have specials for customers after the parade has ended.
"Our store in particular, we're going to have elves here so the kids can have their pictures made with the elves, and I think the photo is free, but you have to come back into the store later and pick up your photo," Hall said.
Santa Claus will also be around for pictures, and merchants may have craft tables for kids outside their stores, Hall said.
"So we're really hoping for kind of like a longer event than just the Christmas Parade," Hall said.
Hall said for people concerned about parking, the streets will be open as soon as the parade is over, and most people park outside of the square track in which the parade follows.
For more information on the Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade, visit auburnchamber.com.
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