Little rain, lots of cheer as crowds turn out for downtown Modesto holiday parade
It was a mostly dry Christmas parade, after all.
The annual Celebration of Lights holiday parade continued with festive, determined crowds gathered along downtown Modesto streets. The event was part of a full day of activities in downtown Modesto on Saturday including the Dickens Fair and kickoff of Rockin’ Holiday at Tenth Street Plaza.
Forecasts had called for heavy rain Saturday evening. But the parade started with dry skies and remained dry for the majority of the floats to pass by, with crowds several people deep in spots along the entire route. Toward the tail end, rain started to fall, but many still stayed to see Santa ride into town on a Modesto Fire Department engine and close out the parade.
People came prepared for the possibility of rain with umbrellas, raincoats, galoshes and more. But the prospect of a wet start to the holidays didn’t deter people like Ricky Basran. The Modesto resident came with his family and friends, about eight in all.
“We do this with the family, it’s a tradition. It feels good to have something like this in Modesto,” he said. “And we brought a rain canopy and rain jackets. We’re determined.”
This year’s parade theme was Candyland, and some 90 floats were entered.
The winning entries are:
- Sweepstakes: Roberts Auto Sales
- Junior High School Band: Ustach Middle School
- High School Band and Guard: Modesto High School
- Large Commercial Business: Roberts Auto Sales, My Little Balloon Co. and VMI Rocks
- Classic Vehicle: The Park at Modesto
- Community Float: City of Modesto Water Conservation
- Small Commercial Business: Frito-Lay
- Nonprofit: Boy Scouts of America Pack 51, Troop 51 and Crew 51
This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 10:20 PM.
