Countdown to lights, singing and Santa in St. Charles
Youngsters can get this year's first glimpse of Santa Claus in downtown St. Charles on Friday evening, when he makes his grand entrance during the annual Lighting of the Lights Ceremony.
Old Saint Nick will make his appearance in a different sort of sleigh -- a brand new red Yukon Denali.
"Santa will be arriving in style," said Deb Pfaff, volunteer coordinator for the Downtown St. Charles Partnership.
His appearance is one of many events planned for Friday and Saturday in and around downtown as part of the city's Holiday Homecoming and Electric Christmas Parade, sponsored by McGrath Automotive Group.
The Lighting of the Lights Ceremony at 5 p.m. Friday will feature live performances by the St. Charles East High School and North High School chorales singing various Christmas songs as the lights in Lincoln Park and on Main Street are lit for the season.
The lights on Friday night will pave the way for the annual Electric Light Christmas Parade down Main Street on Saturday.
Last year approximately 15,000 people lined the route from Fifth Street to Fourth Avenue to see the parade, and even more are anticipated this year.
"It's gotten bigger and better every year," Pfaff said. "It's definitely a community event."
Eighty entries from St. Charles neighborhood organizations, schools, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, and churches are expected to participate.
Although the lighting ceremony and electric parade are expected to be the biggest events of the weekend they are not the only events.
The public is also invited to watch local artist Joe Ganepain in the courtyard of the Filling Station restaurant creating an ice sculpture from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday.
At 10 a.m. Saturday there will be a free showing of the holiday film "Prancer," followed by a holiday concert at 2 p.m. at the Arcada Theatre.
The popular free horse-drawn sleigh rides will also be available from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, departing from the Third Street shops.
"We want to give people many reasons to come down and enjoy St. Charles for the holiday season," Pfaff said.
For more information about this weekend's events visit www.dtown.org or call (630) 513-5386.
Parade and traffic
The St. Charles Police Department has scheduled detours and other arrangements in downtown St. Charles to coincide with the annual Electric Christmas Parade on Saturday.
Parade route: It's scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. starting at Sixth Street and ending at Fourth Avenue.
Detours: A detour route for Main Street (Route 64) and Second Street (Route 31) will be in effect starting at about 5:15 p.m. The detour route will be Fifth Avenue (Route 25) to Illinois Avenue on the east side and State Street to Seventh Street to Illinois Street on the west side.
Parking ban: It will be in effect on the detour route and on Main Street from 3 p.m. until about 7 p.m. There will also be a parking ban in effect for the parade staging areas consisting of Walnut Street from Fourth Street to Seventh Street, Fourth Street from Illinois Street to Main Street, Fifth Street from Walnut to Illinois Street and Sixth Street from Cedar Street to Illinois Street.
No fireworks: Please note there will not be a fireworks display after the parade this year.