Children's Christmas Parade

The Children's Christmas Parade logo

The Children's Christmas Parade is a major Christmas parade held to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Beginning in 1981 with Egleston Children’s Hospital (which later merged with Scottish Rite Children's Hospital), it is held on the first Saturday in December, which is also the second weekend after Thanksgiving.

The Children's Christmas Parade begins at Peachtree Street near Baker Street in downtown Atlanta. The 1.5-mile (2.4 km) route follows Atlanta's famed Peachtree Street southward before turning right onto Marietta Street at Five Points. The parade then turns left ending near the entrance to Centennial Olympic Park.^[1]

It is aired live from 10:30 AM EST until noon on WSB-TV 2.1 in HDTV, after a half-hour pre-show about the children at the hospital.^[2][3][4] It is re-run again on Christmas Day without the pre-show.

Festival of Trees

The parade also served as the opening event for the nine-day Festival of Trees, also benefiting CHoA, and originally held at the Georgia World Congress Center.^[5][6] Even though the Festival of Trees left its longtime home in 2007,^[7] the Children's Christmas Parade remained in downtown Atlanta continuing a nearly three-decade Atlanta tradition. The festival, which started in 1979, was canceled in 2009, after having been drastically reduced in previous years.^[8] In 2008, the "festival" was a gala hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design satellite campus in Atlanta.^[9]

References

1. ^ http://www.choa.org/default.aspx?id=7015
2. ^ "2006 Children's Christmas Parade". WSB-TV. 2006-11-29. http://www.wsbtv.com/station/2680239/detail.html. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
3. ^ "2007 Christmas Parade Hits Downtown Atlanta Saturday". WSB-TV. 2007-11-26. http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14693411/detail.html. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
4. ^ "Christmas Parade Hits Streets In Downtown Atlanta". WSB-TV. 2008-12-02. http://www.wsbtv.com/entertainment/18187070/detail.html. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
5. ^ "Atlanta's 9-Day Festival Of Trees Draws Attendance Of About 130,000". Amusement Business. 1999-01-11. http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4585896-1.html. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
6. ^ "Georgia World Congress Center and Georgia Dome Campus Gear Up for Busy Weekend". Georgia World Congress Center. 2006-12-01. http://www.gwcc.com/news/inews168.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-11. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Yearly Festival of Trees moves to new locale". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2008-10-02. http://www.ajc.com/hotjobs/content/printedition/2008/10/02/butterfly.html. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
8. ^ http://www.atlanta-downtown.com/events/
9. ^ http://www.scad.edu/news/2008/scad-and-childrens-healthcare.cfm

External links

• Official Children's Christmas Parade site
• Children's Healthcare of Atlanta