Photo by Lexi Coon.
Residents of Bluff Park and surrounding communities gather to watch the first Bluff Park Christmas Parade on Dec. 3, 2016.
The Bluff Park Christmas Parade returns for a third year Dec. 1, and this year the parade has a new route.
It will begin at the same place as the past two years — at the park next to the Shades Cliff Pool — and proceed along Cloudland Drive and Lester Lane. But instead of heading north on Clearview Road to Bluff Park Village and ending at Sweetspire Gardens, the parade this year will turn south on Clearview (which turns into Maiden Lane), right onto Rockview Lane, right onto Cloudland Drive and end back at the park next to Shades Cliff Pool.
“We’re just going to kind of make a big circle around the park,” said Lori Redding, one of the parade organizers.
Lineup begins at 9:30 a.m., and the parade should start at 10 a.m. and last about 30 minutes, Redding said.
However, organizers are once again planning activities at the park after the parade is over until noon, including kids’ crafts, live music by J. Patrick Reed and food trucks.
Organizers were still planning post-parade activities at the Hoover Sun’s press time, but food trucks that had committed to be present included Rooski’s, City Bowls and Urban Pops, Redding said.
Organizers changed the route this year because there is a playground for kids at the park and it’s a good gathering spot for people, she said. Plus, the liability insurance costs less if the parade starts and stops at the same location, she said.
People who want to be in the parade can register using a link on the Bluff Park Christmas Parade page on Facebook. In past years, participants have included churches, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, businesses, sports teams, cheerleaders and groups of friends.
The parade entry fee is $30 and parade entries will be judged. Organizers also are looking for sponsors. A $100 sponsorship includes a parade entry, the sponsor’s name on two banners along Shades Crest Road and a table at the end of the parade.
