Athens Christmas Parade of Lights

The Athens Christmas Parade of Lights is today, Thursday, December 5. It starts at 7:00 p.m. but you should definitely get there early to secure your spot, it gets crowded. Not as crowded as like the Wild Rumpus, but it is generally well attended. Find more information here.

Athens Christmas Parade Theme

The theme for the Athens Christmas Parade is “Run, Run Rudolph” this year.

The parade is put on annually by the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government and the Athens Downtown Development Authority. The Parade of Lights goes on “rain or shine”. If severe weather makes conditions unsafe for participants and spectators, the parade might be cancelled.

Parade Route

The parade assembly shuts down all of Hancock Street from the Classic Center all the way down to Creature Comforts. There are a lot of groups in the parade, so if you are in the parade that is where you’ll go to find your people and get ready to walk.

The parade starts at the corner of Pulaski and Hancock, going down Pulaski to Clayton and then up Clayton street all the way up to Thomas St. where it will walk past the Classic Center. Then the route turns left onto Washington Street and ends up at City Hall where the tree will shine, it’s beautiful as always.

Parades are FUN! This one is also COLD!

It will be a good time, and thankfully the weather is a bit warmer than it has been the past few days because brr. The weather when I walked in the parade one year was so cold. So, make sure to bundle up if you’re going to stand there for an hour and watch the parade.

So go out tonight to see the Athens Christmas Parade: the Downtown Parade of Lights! It’ll be a memorable event regardless of what happens. I wonder if the live camel will make another appearance? There is always a wild story told on social media about antics the parade marchers get up to, the camel was spitting on people and being generally nasty so that’s the story I remember most.