The 119th Original Santa Claus Parade returns to Toronto on Sunday, November 26, and I had a special preview with the man in red. We chatted a little bit, I had the chance to get a peek at some of the floats, and he shared a few stories.
“The things that I look forward to in the parade are all the smiling faces that we’ll see,” Santa said. “I look forward to all of the signs that people hold up saying loving things and all of the little… chalk marks that go on the road.”
“All the elves, both here and then the North Pole, have been working hard every single day of the year to make this work.”
And the thing that Santa likes to eat the most of all? Mrs. Claus’ classic gingerbread cookies, of course.
Each year the Santa Claus Parade has over 750,000 people lining up on the streets, and this year it will trace a slightly different route through the city. The 2.5-hour long parade will start at Christie Pits and Bloor Street West starting at 12:30 PM.
From there the parade heads east on Bloor to Spadina Avenue, south on Spadina to Harbord Street and Hoskin Avenue, south on Queens Park Crescent and University Avenue, east on Wellington Street, and south again on Yonge Street to Front Street, ending at the St. Lawrence Market at Jarvis Street.
The parade will start with the 5km Holly Jolly Fun Run at 11:45 AM with over 1,000 runners expected. During the parade the Royal Canadian Air Cadets will be selling red noses at Metrolinx and TTC stations across the city, and along the Parade route, to support the Santa Claus Parade.
If you can’t make it to Toronto this weekend the Santa Claus Parade airs on CTV Saturday, December 9 at 7 PM (ET/PT) with hosts Melissa Grelo, Kelsey McEwen, and Tyrone Edwards.
Watch my video preview above, and visit thesantaclausparade.com for more details.
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