The 34th Belmont Shore Christmas Parade Saturday night had the theme of “A Candy Land Christmas.”
While children danced in the street, holiday floats drove by, leaving artificial snow along the route at the 34th Belmont Shore Christmas Parade on Saturday.
Between Livingston Drive and Bay Shore Avenue, people surrounded the entire block of Second Street. Those who arrived early sat in the middle island of the street for the closest view.
One family even set up a table and had dinner while watching the parade.
“There must be thousands here,” event coordinator Rachel Wiggins said. “It’s about a mile [for the parade route] and there’s people at every corner.”
During the parade, she walked back and forth along the route, walkie-talkie in hand, ensuring everything was running smoothly.
Long Beach State women’s tennis players greeted people at The Beach Store on 2nd Street store and marched in the parade representing Cal State Long Beach.
“It takes a lot of people, security and planners for this to happen,” Wiggins said. “My boss and about 100 other people — including event staff — worked hard on this.”
This year’s theme was “A Candy Land Christmas,” and floats were decorated accordingly with gingerbread men, lollipops and candy canes while paraders tossed out candy to eager children in the crowd.
Wiggins said that when choosing a theme, the parade organizers wanted to pick something people can easily decorate rather than something more abstract like last year’s theme, “Miracle on Second Street.”
Throughout the night, the sounds of marching bands and cheers from paraders and the crowd filled the streets. Santa Claus appeared at the end of the night on top of a fire truck and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.
Local schools and organizations such as the Long Beach Police and Fire Department were a big part of the parade as they drove along decorated police cars while emergency vehicles rang their sirens.
People heard barks as the So Cal Corgi Nation marched by with their four-legged friends and the distinct music of bagpipes filled the air when the Long Beach Pipe Band came around.
More than 100 different organizations participated and helped bring in the night’s festivities.
Hellen McCarty and her son were in the parade representing Long Beach Little League.
“I like all the spirit you see throughout the month,” McCarty said. “I thought the parade turned out really good. There were cute floats, bands and a lot of schools were represented.”
Eddy Rodriguez said he came out to get together with his family and to enjoy the parade with his children.
“I think it’s something that brings out all the smaller neighborhoods in Long Beach,” Wiggins said. “I participated in the parade 15 years ago and I think it’s a great way to start the Christmas season.”
Holiday events are just starting and other festivities around Long Beach include Chill at the Queen Mary which will have a holiday-themed Alice in Wonderland experience as well as ice skating and ice poling and the Naples Island Holiday Boat parade on Dec. 17.