Pocatello holds Night Lights Christmas Parade
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Jason Borba, KPVI
POCATELLO — It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas in southeastern Idaho.
The season officially kicked-off this weekend in Pocatello with the 30th annual Christmas Night Lights Parade through Old Town.
Hundreds of people lined the streets of Old Town to celebrate the 30th year of the Pocatello Night Lights Parade. This year there were 75 floats covered in thousands of lights and many of them played music as they made its way through the Pocatello streets.
“It’s a fun community event and we’re glad that they do it because Old Town is awesome,” says spectators.
The parade is the official kick-off to the Christmas season in the Gate City. For many families the light parade has become a tradition with many of them watching the show in the same spot every year, and of course everyone looks forward to their favorite part.
“I like the lights,” says Ruth Platt.
“I think mine was always since I was a kid, Santa Clause at the end because we get to see him first,” says Harmony Shuler. “That was always my favorite part of it.”
This year’s theme was Expedition: Old Town Pocatello Christmas. Officials hope the community will come out and explore Old Town this Christmas season.
“We are a community so deep in tradition that it is so important for families to experience things that our community is known for,” said Stephanie Palagi, Old Town Director.
The floats in the night lights parade can be pretty elaborate. Decorators say it can take a few days up to a week to put a float together and spectators are grateful so much time and effort goes into making these displays.
“Participation is up compared to when it first started, which is awesome, each year there is more there and people enjoy it more,” says Platt. “More people come to old town and we love for people to come to old town.”
While the parade and all the lights captivate the audience the true star of the show is Santa as everyone stays until the end to catch a glimpse of Saint Nick.
This article was originally published by KPVI. It is used here with permission.