VIRUS VOIDS MOST HOLIDAY PARADES
Ocean Beach, Fallbrook, La Jolla doing ‘reverse’ events this weekend
This year, the pandemic has cost San Diegans many of their cherished annual traditions like the San Diego County Fair, Comic-Con, the KAABOO music festival and the Holiday Bowl.
This month’s biggest COVID-19 casualties are the long-running
Christmas and holiday parades that usually take place this weekend in nearly half of the cities countywide. Almost all of them have been canceled, but a few communities have gotten creative in finding ways to keep their decades-long traditions alive.
Fallbrook, Ocean Beach and La Jolla are all hosting COVID-safe “reverse” Christmas parades this weekend, where the f loats will be stationary and the public will instead be rolling by in their cars. And El Cajon, which has kicked off parade season for 74 years running in
November with the Mother Goose Parade, went on with the show in virtual fashion on Nov. 22. The onehour video can be viewed at mothergooseparade.org.
Lila MacDonald, CEO of the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, which has hosted the Fallbrook Christmas Parade for 39 years, said she was determined to find a way to make the event happen this year because of its significance to the community.
“We’re a small community and people look forward to this so much that it would be devastating if it didn’t happen,” MacDonald said. “Every year we have 35,000 people lining the streets. For most of us, including myself, we’ve got something that’s been a tradition for more than 30 years. I would just like to have this little bit of joy this year. This is a safe way to share some Christmas spirit.”
Fallbrook’s reverse parade takes place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. today in the parking lot near the chamber at 111 Main St. It will feature about 25 illuminated stationary entries this year, instead of the usual 100 or so.
They will include business and nonprofit groups, vintage and lowrider car clubs, and community VIPs. Admission is free and no registration is necessary. Details at fallbrookchamberofcommerce.org.
Ocean Beach’s 41st annual OB Holiday Parade will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. today in the Dog Beach parking lot at the west end of West Point Loma Boulevard. Drivers touring the parked f loats are encouraged to decorate their own cars and cast ballots online for their favorite entries in several categories. In order to participate, drivers must register online at obholidays.com/parade-info and pay for a ticket. It’s $15 for O.B. residents and $25 for nonresidents.
The La Jolla Christmas Parade will take place at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in downtown La Jolla. As always, Santa Claus will roll up in the “Old Black Goose,” a 1916 Packard convertible, and
there will be a f lyover. But all of the parade entries will be parked. Admission is free but drivers must register their car in advance at ljpa
rade.com.
The county’s second-oldest parade, the Escondido Jaycees’ Annual Christmas Parade, was canceled this
year for the first time in its 70-year history, according to organizer Zach Cypher.
The popular parade — which had nearly 70 f loats last year and an estimated 10,000 spectators along its 1.5-mile route on Broadway — is known for its large number of equestrian and car clubs entries, Cypher said.
The Jaycees made the decision to cancel back in April because they felt the pandemic would be around much longer than originally forecast. Cypher said the organization is now making plans to hold its 70th parade in December 2021. He said there has been a changing of the guard in the Jaycees leadership this year and the new leaders are taking advantage of the time off to reorganize and plan for a bigger and more streamlined parade in 2021. Their goal is to speed up the parade so it doesn’t block traffic access for residents along the route trying to get to work.
Cypher, 26, said canceling was a tough decision because many Escondido residents like himself have grown up with the event. He attended the parade every year as a young boy. In 2007, he began marching in the parade with the Boy Scouts each year, and he has served as an event co-organizer for the past few years.
“It’s a big part of what Escondido is about for a lot of families,” he said.