NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
13 November 2002

REGION’S HOLIDAY SEASON KICKS-OFF WITH ANNUAL HARRISBURG HOLIDAY PARADE ON NOVEMBER 23 AT 10:00 A.M.

Harrisburg, PA’Mayor Stephen R. Reed today invited residents and visitors from throughout Central Pennsylvania to the City of Harrisburg’s 2002 Holiday Parade, set to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 23 in downtown Harrisburg. The event marks the start of the 2002 Thanksgiving-Hanukkah-Christmas-Kwanzaa-New Year Season in the Greater Harrisburg Region.

Reed said the Harrisburg Holiday Parade, once an annual tradition that came to a close years ago, was begun anew by the Mayor in 1986 and has since grown to become the region’s largest holiday parade. Over $7,500 in appearance monies and cash prizes are awarded to the top five entries in five categories of parade competition. The City-sponsored parade is also a sanctioned competition of the high school Cavalcade of Bands, which produces judged competitions for high school marching bands across the United States.

The Mayor said the 2002 Holiday Parade theme is “A Nation Strong In Spirit”, and features over 2,000 marchers in over one hundred parade units, including giant helium-filled balloons, youth marching units, nineteen marching bands, and scores of commercial and non-commercial floats, fire trucks and the first official appearance of Santa Claus in the region.

Reed said WHP Television, CBS TV-21, will once again televise the Parade live, beginning at 10:00 a.m., and then repeat the broadcast again at 6 p.m. the same day on UPN TV-15. The Harrisburg Holiday Parade is the only midstate parade to gain televised status, thus allowing those unable to attend the parade in person to still enjoy the high quality, holiday entertainment production.

The Mayor said Parade winners will be announced and presented with their trophies in the Strawberry Square Atrium beginning at 1:00 p.m.

Reed said the popular Harrisburg Festival of Lights, first begun by the Mayor in 1993, will also kick off that day, featuring thousands of sparkling lights placed throughout the downtown and on City Island. Downtown and midtown stores and businesses, offices and residential properties are also being invited to create or add holiday decorations to their exteriors and windows, making them eligible for special prizes and recognitions by the Mayor. Winners will be announced during the City’s annual holiday program on December 16.

The Mayor said the City of Harrisburg annually plans and produces the Holiday Parade and Festival of Lights, and is this year joined by co-sponsors Clear Channel Broadcasting and their affiliated broadcasting stations WHP TV-21 and UPN TV-15, Belco Community Credit Union, PNC Bank, the Coca Cola Bottling Company, Eat N’Park Restaurants, FastSigns, H. Edward Black and Associates, and the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District.

The Mayor said the Holiday Parade route begins at the formation area on City Island and then crosses the Market Street Bridge into the downtown. Marchers proceed to Market Square where the judges and broadcasting review stands are located, and then north on Second Street to North Street. The Parade turns west onto North Street and then south along the beautiful Harrisburg waterfront on Front Street and back across the Market Street Bridge to City Island where it disbands.

On-street parking is free for the day except on Parade route streets, where parking is banned until after the city’s post-parade clean-up activities are concluded. Parking is free at the Market Square and Locust Street parking garages from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking in the Walnut Street Garage is not free and is limited to Hilton Hotel and Towers, Whitaker Center and Strawberry Square parking. Parade attendees are encouraged to make it a full day in downtown, starting with the Holiday Parade, then a visit to Strawberry Square and other downtown shops and eateries, followed by a stop at the Whitaker Center and IMAX Theater, and concluding with a relaxing drive around City Island’s Festival of Lights.

Area motorists are advised that the Market Street Bridge will be closed to through traffic on parade day until after the conclusion of the Parade. The Bridge will close at 8 a.m., except for parade participants, and then reopen to all traffic after the parade has disbanded. Motorists are also advised that parking along the parade route streets is prohibited and that illegally-parked vehicles will be ticketed and towed.

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