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Santa Claus Parade: Ontario's Start to the Holiday Season.
Here's a familar sight at most North American Santa Claus Parades -- the Shriner's float, in this case buses made into a train. The Shriner's are a voluntary club dedicated to helping needy children by providing health and recreational amenities.
Santa's parade isn't complete without bands playing, here it's the Royal Marines Association band. Their uniforms strike a decidedly Christmassy note in red, white and blue.
And in my opinion, no parade should pass without a Pipe Band. Christmas carols played on bagpipes sound different and yet still Christmassy. A million times better than the annual output of christmas songs by pop, rock, and rap musicians anyhow.
Every town's parade is a little different. It depends on what clubs and businesses are in the neighbourhood. Most parades includes the Scouts, Guides, dance schools, or whatever but Bowmanville, in
Durham Region,
has a zoo. This is a Christmas elephant partnered with a more likely holy land camel. Behind the elephant and ponies were two reindeer, not pulling Santa's sleigh -- that was left to a quad bike.
Where towns are closely packed, mainly in the Greater
Toronto
Area (GTA), they run the risk of competing for an audience. Parades are scheduled for the morning, afternoon and evening to ensure maximum exposure. Here's a picture from the Town of Ajax's evening parade.
No matter when the parade is held or who is in it, they all finish with Santa himself -- though how he arrives is often a novelty. Toronto's parade, the biggest and most lavish, often finds new and unique ways of having the Jolly Old Elf delivered to end the parade -- and start the shopping.
If you enjoy parades, or even just pictures of them, visit our page of
Caribana pictures.
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