Yellowknife’s Santa Claus Parade is back this weekend, and this year it’s going to look a lot more like the parades Yellowknifers enjoyed before the pandemic.
The year’s parade will start outside City Hall on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 5:00 p.m.
“We’re going back to a classic parade,” says city spokesperson Aimee Dentinger. Last year’s event was stationary due to the Covid-19 pandemic: attendees had to drive by the parade in their cars. But with thousands of cars packed into downtown, many weren’t able to see the parade before the 7 p.m. cutoff. Temperatures as low as -25°c also meant the participants couldn’t stay out later than planned.
This year’s theme is “Rock n’ Roll Christmas.” No other activities, such as the Holiday Market, are planned to coincide with the parade.
Although this year’s event will be a proper parade, the City is still taking precautions against Covid-19. The City did not respond to a request for comment about these measures in time for publication.
At least one of last year’s participants has decided to sit the parade out this year: A spokesperson for l’École Allain St-Cyr said that due to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, the school will be waiting until next year to enter a float. Last year, the French-language school entered a float with the theme “Casse-Noisette” (“The Nutcracker.”)
Anyone who wants to enter a float, vehicle or walking group in this year’s parade has until Wednesday, Nov. 17 to register with the City.