How to Attend Seaford, Delaware’s Annual Christmas Parade

Touted as the largest Christmas Parade on Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia peninsula), Seaford, Delaware annually hosts an extravagant evening parade the first Saturday in December. The parade is sponsored by the city of Seaford and the Downtown Seaford Association. As an evening parade, children of all ages will be awed by the sparkle of lighted floats, the rum-tum and rooty-toot of the bands, and the spectacle of fire trucks, horses and large farm equipment. And there’s so much more!

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Portable chair
• Warm clothes (hat and gloves)
• Blanket
• Hot chocolate
• Holiday spirit

1. Decorated Fire Engine Before leaving home, make sure you have cold weather gear. The parade lasts about an hour and half, and the evenings are cold. The parade is always the first Saturday in December.
2. Parade Float The earlier you arrive the night of the parade, the better sitting or standing location you’ll get. Parking is available on side streets lining the parade route. The parade starts at 7:00 pm at the intersection of Nylon Boulevard and Pennsylvania Avenue, proceeds east up High Street through downtown to pass the judge’s stand on the Mt. Olivet Church parking lot, turns north at Market Street to end at Seaford Middle School. Don’t forget to check out Gateway Park at the intersection of High and Market Streets. There, you’ll see the town’s 24 foot tall decorated Christmas tree.
3. Drummers Given the duration of the parade, you might prefer being able to sit down, so consider bringing a portable chair or heavy blanket to sit curbside. Actually, if you’ll be using a chair, a blanket to drape over your legs is a great idea to help block out the cold.
4. Parade Float Having hot chocolate in individual travel mugs is fun. Adding homemade cookies can make it an extra special treat.
5. Santa Claus, who rides in his sleigh at the end of the parade, is a joy for all to see. Bring your friends and relatives to make this a fun group activity. And most of all, bring your holiday spirit to cheer on the parade participants!

Tips & Warnings

• Want to be in the parade? Starting in the fall, you can sign-up at www.mychristmasparade.com.