Holly Jolly Christmas Parade invites entries, celebrates treasured traditions

Christmas memories have a way of staying with us: watching for a favorite float, waving to familiar faces and gathering with family along a downtown street.

This year’s Cookeville Christmas Parade will celebrate those traditions with the theme “Holly Jolly Christmas,” inviting the community to help create another evening to remember. The parade is planned for 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12.

Darren Wilson, known in and around Cookeville as “Mr. Christmas,” along with Tracy Hughes and their fellow Christmas Parade committee members are working to capture the nostalgia and joy of the season while keeping the reason for the season at the heart of the celebration. The theme reflects a desire to bring families and neighbors together, recall cherished holiday memories and create new ones while celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

BRING YOUR CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Businesses, churches, schools, clubs, community organizations and individuals are encouraged to bring their creativity and Christmas spirit to this year’s parade. Whether an entry recalls a favorite family tradition, brings a familiar Christmas song to life or shares the story of the Nativity, participants have an opportunity to help make the celebration meaningful for families lining the route.

Those interested in entering should visit CookevilleChristmasParade.net for application information, complete entry requirements and updates. Applications are due by Monday, November 23, at 5:00 p.m.

The planned parade route begins at Sixth Street and Washington Avenue, travels south toward the Putnam County Courthouse, then turns onto Broad Street and ends near the Cookeville Performing Arts Center at Walnut Avenue.

If weather requires postponement, the rain date is 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 14. Weather-related announcements will be posted on the parade website.

JOIN THE CELEBRATION IN PERSON OR ONLINE

Clarissa and Herbert Williams are again involved this year, with Highlands Insider and Cookeville Now serving as the parade’s official broadcast and media sponsor. The Williamses will join Darren Wilson, owner of Bluewater Rentals, and Freaky Dave from Stonecom Radio as cohosts of the livestream, bringing the sights, sounds and Christmas spirit of the parade to viewers near and far.

Tracy Hughes, longtime parade committee member said, “Working with the parade committee for many years we find joy in celebrating the season with our community.”

Audience members are encouraged to engage with the Highlands Insider/Cookeville Now livestream during the parade, share favorite moments in the comments and cheer on participating entries.

Additional parade sponsors include Ford of Cookeville, Hometown Digital Marketing Agency, Highlands Insider, River Church, Pepsi, Living Hope Church, Blue Water Rentals, Stonecom Radio, Algood Diner, Pelican Snowballs, Algood Diner Food Truck and Cookeville Now.

SHARE YOUR PARADE MEMORIES

Do you remember your first Cookeville Christmas Parade? Did you help build a float, march with a school group or watch with someone whose memory makes Christmas especially meaningful?

Highlands Insider and Cookeville Now invite readers to share their parade stories, favorite traditions and photographs. Perhaps your family has attended for generations, or a single parade moment has stayed with you through the years. Readers who share their stories may be selected for an interview on Cookeville Now or Highlands Insider and may also be featured in the print edition of Highlands Insider.

“I am so excited to be part of an old-fashioned Christmas parade in our wonderful community. Memories of my childhood of past Christmas Parades are part of the things I want to bring back,” said Darren Wilson, aka Mr. Christmas.

View the Christmas parade website here: https://www.cookevillechristmasparade.net/