Spirit of the holidays
Christmas parade season begins this weekend on the Northside
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Cape Breton, but only without the snow.
With the holiday season fast approaching, communities across the island are preparing to celebrate the season with annual Christmas parades.
Sydney Mines will be the first community in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to hold a parade this year. The event will take place on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
“The parade has always been a great success, we’ve always had great entries.” Organizer Kim Rideout
The parade will line up on Shore Road, beginning at 6 p.m. The parade will turn left to Main Street and then left to MacKay Street, before turning into the Holy Family parish parking lot to disburse.
Following the event, participants and community members are invited to Royal Canadian Legion branch 8 for an award presentation, hot chocolate and hotdogs for children, provided by the ladies auxiliary.
“The parade has always been a great success, we’ve always had great entries,” said organizer Kim Rideout. “It’s always great to see people come out and enjoy the parade, hopefully people continue their support.”
Meanwhile in Victoria County, Baddeck will hold its parade on Nov. 25, with entries lining up at 12:30 p.m.
The parade will begin at 1 p.m. from the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Park. The parade will travel along Chebucto Street, down Twinning Street, along Water Street to Jones Street and back to the museum.
In North Sydney, the annual event will take place on Dec. 2, beginning at 7 p.m.
Floats will line up on Blowers Street between Stanley and Pierce streets. The parade will travel down Pierce Street to Regent Street, before travelling Commercial Street, back to Blowers Street.
“We were a daytime parade for seven or eight years and then entries declined to a point where we had less than 10 entries,” said Lloyd MacIntosh, chief of the North Sydney Volunteer Fire Department. “The nighttime parade really made a difference for us. Our entries have been increasing steadily — last year I think we had over 70 entries.”