Festive Annual Spring Hill Christmas Parade, Tree Lighting Ceremony Dec. 8

Spring Hill Christmas Parade

The community is invited to the 11th Annual Spring Hill Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting Ceremony, themed “Christmas Around the World,” on Saturday, Dec. 8!

The fun and festive parade, presented by the Spring Hill Parks & Recreation Department and Kiwanis Spring Hill & Thompson’s Station, will start at 5:30 p.m. and is expected to end at about 6:30 p.m. Restaurants will be open along the parade route along with food trucks in front of the Tennessee Children’s Home on Main Street. There will be live holiday musical performances on the front porch and lawn of historic Ferguson Hall at the Children’s Home from 2 to 5 p.m. (See list of performers below). There also will be a live, interactive nativity presented by Loving Touch Petting Zoo, in which children may pet the manger animals.

The afternoon of festivities and entertainment starts at 2 p.m. on the front lawn of Ferguson Hall. This year, the Tree Lighting Ceremony has been incorporated into the day of parade activities, rather than a separate lighting event at Port Royal Park, as the tree will be more visible on the front lawn of the Children’s Home. The lighting ceremony will begin at 4:20 p.m. and we’ll officially turn on the lights to the tree at 5 p.m. to the sounds of beautiful holiday music and a “100 percent chance of snow!” Then find a good spot along Main Street to put down your blanket or chair and enjoy the annual Christmas Parade starting at 5:30 p.m.

PARKING

Parking for this event will be in a grass field behind the Tennessee Children’s Home. Entry for this parking area will be on Kedron Road, not from the main entrance on U.S. 31. Exit for the north area of the parking lot will be to Elm Street. Exit for the south area of the parking lot will be Kedron Road.

2018 Spring Hill Christmas Parade routePARADE ROUTE

Please note the parade route has changed from last year: The parade will begin at Evans Park and enter Main Street (U.S. 31) from Spring Hill Elementary School on Sharron Cantrell Road (formerly Toone Prados Street), and head north on Main, ending at the First Baptist Church parking lot at 5219 Main St. Parade participants will have the option to turn in at the church parking lot and unload or continue north on Main. Parade walkers must be picked up at the church. Vehicles and floats will not be allowed to leave the church parking lot until the Police Department has reopened U.S. 31 after the parade. Float participants may also choose to unload at other locations past the church.

PARADE LINEUP

Floats and other participants must access the lineup by entering Evans Park from Maury Hill Street and continuing to Sharron Cantrell Road (formerly Toone Prados Street) until reaching the back of the lineup. If needed, floats will be in double lines. Lineup starts at 3 p.m., not earlier.

ROAD CLOSURES

• Main Street (U.S. 31) from Kedron Road to just south of Beechcroft Road will be closed at 1 p.m. The intersection of Beechcroft/Duplex Road and Main will remain open until 4:45 p.m.
• Main Street from Kedron to just south of Miles Johnson Parkway will close at 4:45 p.m.
• Main will remain closed until it is deemed safe to reopen after pedestrian traffic is cleared.

PICKUP AREA FOR CHILDREN WALKING IN THE PARADE

If you are picking up children who walked in the parade, please go to the parking lot of the First Baptist Church. You may park at Harvey Park and there will be a path to the church parking lot. However, if you park at the First Baptist Church parking lot, you will not be allowed to leave until after the parade is over due to the Main Street closure. If you park at Harvey Park, you can leave at any time.

PARADE BYPASS

If you are coming from the south and need to go to the north side of Spring Hill on Main Street:
• Take Main Street to Saturn Parkway, exit to Kedron Road and turn onto Old Kedron Road to Miles Johnson Parkway, then to Main Street.
• Take Main to Kedron, then to Old Kedron Road to Miles Johnson Parkway, to Main Street.
• If you are coming from the north on Main, reverse these directions.

PERFORMERS

2 p.m. – Midsouth Youth Theatre performance. This organization is dedicated to “helping children to explore creativity through free or highly affordable shows, classes and other theatrical events.”

2:30 p.m. – Out of the Box Children’s Theatre, a theatrical program for children in Spring Hill, will put on a show! The group is dedicated to the art of acting, improvisation, stagecraft, and musical theater, offering classes for ages 4-18. The program is produced by Enrichment Academy of Spring Hill and is currently in its eighth season of productions.

3 p.m. – Madison Nolan, a singer, songwriter and musician from Franklin. She has a passion for writing and singing new country music that stays true to the country genre. She is pursuing a music career full time, while worship leading and teaching guitar lessons on the side.

3:30 p.m. – “Dreams Do Come True” Princess Parties will bring the Disney fairytale princesses alive. Dressed precisely as the Disney princesses, they will share a song with the children. They were recently voted ‘Best Party Entertainment’ in the 2018 Best of Parents, Williamson County. The Princess Parties group provides characters that can be booked for parties and entertainment, or events can be hosted at their storefront location.

4 p.m. – Logan Blade, who has Autism, will show us his natural musical gifts as he sings beautiful holiday music. Logan has sang at the world famous Blue Bird Café, and in May he this sang before 28 world leaders at the Parade of Nations in Norfolk, Va. Logan just released his fourth CD.

4:20 p.m. – Heritage Middle School Choir, including 16 members, will perform lively holiday tunes; directed by Lisa Benton.

The City of Spring Hill thanks all of the generous event sponsors for helping make this exciting occasion possible, including Chick-fil-A, the Tennessee Children’s Home, John Maher Builders Inc., and The Advertiser News of Spring Hill & Thompson’s Station. For more information about this event, visit www.springhillkiwanis.com.