Children at ‘heart’ of the parade
we’ve been at it for a long time, we are in awe looking down the street at the numbers of people. The heart of the parade is the children.”
For 2018, parade goers will be treated to 32 floats, up from last year’s 26, and 21 marching bands.
Keep an eye out for the Manulife gingerbread house decorated with cookies and bright gummies and candy canes on the snow-covered lawn, and a beautifully crafted 1950s-style wooden sleigh stuffed with oversized Lego figurines and toys, sponsored by Canadian Tire. It is among the largest float ever built for the parade. There are very plump Timbits playing sports on the Tim Hortons float, and a spectacular airplane designed to appear as though it’s flying in the sky, from Sunwing.ca and Autentica Cuba.
Hard to miss is the Elf on the Shelf, who is sure to be keeping a careful watch over crowds, and the dancing sausages and bacon on the Maple Leaf Foods float. Meanwhile, antique vehicles from Toronto Fire will give a wonderful nod to the city’s past.
Each display is an impressive work of art. To complete them in time, work begins in January and continues through until the day before the parade.
A lot has changed since 1905, when Eaton’s began the tradition with a few horse-drawn floats. The company operated the parade for 77 years. Then, Ron Barbaro and George Cohon took the reins, forming a not-for-profit to keep the parade going. Today, it’s the largest children’s entertainment show in Canada, requiring 3,000 to 4,000 volunteers to pull it off. It draws about a million people on a sunny day and attendees can get up to six-rows deep, said Beresford.
The parade lasts two-and-ahalf hours and travels a 6.5-kilometre route.
To keep things fresh, the majority of the floats are built from scratch. The ones that return are overhauled.
“When we bring them back, we actually do different things to them to freshen them up in a completely different way,” Beresford explained.
It’s always a huge undertaking for those working behind the scenes, especially so for 2018.
“This year, Santa called with a challenge,” said general manager and creative director Alfred Iannarelli, who began working with the parade as a summer student in 1970.
“He said, ‘I want you to make things bigger this year. Bigger than you ever have.’ So, that’s what we’ve done. Every one of them is a work of love. Every float presents a different challenge, but a little bit of Santa’s magic comes down every year.”
Speaking of jolly old St. Nick, the man in red came to town earlier this month for a sneak preview of the parade. Alongside him was Mrs. Claus.
“Mrs. Claus, not that long ago, I think it was five or six years ago, joined me in the parade for the first time,” Santa said.
“Mrs. Claus said I never take her anywhere, so I took her to the parade.”