Christmas parade in Hot Springs

The 2011 Christmas Parade, sponsored by the Oaklawn Rotary Club, will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, December 5 in downtown Hot Springs.

The parade will begin at the intersection of Central, Whittington and Park avenues, proceeding south on Central Avenue, turning east at Orange Street and disbanding at the Transportation Plaza. Residents are asked to remove all parked cars from the parade route by 5:30 p.m. on parade day.

The parade route will be closed to through traffic at 6:15 p.m. With the forecast of cold weather, parade attendees are encouraged to dress warmly.

Parade attendees are asked to stay on the sidewalk and off of the street. Street vendors and throwing of candy are not allowed during the parade.

This year’s parade includes 80 entries, with more than 40 floats and six marching bands. “We’re excited to have many high-quality entries this year, depicting the theme of ‘Christmas in America,’” said Oaklawn Rotary parade chair Shannon Carroll. Parade co-sponsors include Simmons First Bank, Steamatic of Hot Springs, Sanders Plumbing and Lighting and Skip Holland of Edward Jones Investments, with support from the City of Hot Springs.