Rome Christmas Parade
The Rome Christmas Parade is an annual parade that is held in Rome, Georgia. The procession makes its way down Glenn Milner Boulevard onto East First Avenue and ends on Broad Street. Thousands of Georgians come to the parade yearly to see the parade participants such as: local high school bands, vintage automobiles, church and club floats pulled by tractors, law enforcement and rescue vehicles and Santa Claus. The Rome Christmas Parade has been a tradition in Rome for many decades.
Rome’s Christmas parade is the oldest and largest Christmas parade in Georgia dating from 1950. This Christmas celebration is a non-commercial and non-profit event organized by local citizens. Hundreds of participants enter the parade each year: some walking groups waving to onlookers, others riding on floats, beauty pageant winners atop convertible cars, and even emergency vehicles driven by local law enforcement and rescue personnel. The floats are required to be decorated to match the parade’s theme for that year, selected by a group of local citizens. There are a few rules that govern the parade such as: horses having to wear diapers and no candy being thrown out to the crowd. Santa Claus is always on the last float in the parade.
The 2014 Christmas parade theme was "Holly Jolly Christmas". The parade will take place on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving each year. The rain date is the following Thursday.