Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "santaparade"

Second Saturday events

2011-12-13T22:30:02Z

Sacramento art galleries hosted small crowds of visitors during the last Second Saturday of the year. Many visitors took advantage of the smaller crowds to do Christmas shopping. Galleries and other businesses sold art, crafts, gift certificates and other items to Christmas shoppers.

Festivities in Sacramento began earlier in the day with the annual Santa Parade. Thousands of children, along with their parents, lined the parade route. The parade started at the corner of 9th and I Streets and an anticipated crowd of over 25 thousand watched.

The annual parade began at 10 a.m. and participants included marching bands, cheer squads, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, several floats, car clubs, horses, community organizations, beauty queens, dancers, actors and other performers. Santa and Mrs. Claus were the most anticipated and popular members of the parade.

Another holiday event also took place later in the day during Second Saturday festivities. La Raza Galería Posada staged a community posada “Las Posaditas” on Saturday and will bring the event to Midtown again on Saturday, December 17.

The posada (lodging) is a re-enactment of the story of Joseph and Mary searching for lodging. Volunteers played the parts of an angel, Joseph and Mary.

The posada started with Galería Posada’s Program Coordinator Roberto Lopez welcoming guests and giving a little history about the posada and where the procession was going to take place.

Posada participants caroled the Midtown area with several songs that included “Jingle Bells,” “El Niño del Tambor,” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and other songs.

Following the biblical story of Mary and Joseph seeking lodging and going from inn to inn the posada made a couple of stops. The first destination was Casa de Español located at 2115 J Street.

The number of carolers was around 65 when they began and each of them entered Casa de Español for some chocolate and drink treats after singing several songs.

The second stop of the evening for the posada procession was Gallery 2110 and the Sacramento Art Complex. Several visitors to the Sacramento Art Complex enjoyed the carolers who ended their singing with “Feliz Navidad.”

The procession made one final stop at the MARRS Building on 20th Street. By this time the carolers had grown in size as others joined in. A piñata awaited the carolers where they sang several more holiday songs.

Children took turns as they tried to break a piñata and afterwards tamales were provided for the posada carolers.

The posadas will take place once again at the Galería Posada on Saturday, December 17. I’m not sure if they will follow the same route but visit their website to find more information.

Marching bands, sports cars and beauty queens featured in Sacramento's annual Santa Parade

2011-12-11T21:34:47Z

photographs by Barry Wisdom

It wasn't the glitziest parade on the block, and more ads passed by than during a Talladega Superspeedway Nascar event, but the smiles that beamed from the shoulder-to-shoulder spectators at Sacramento's 2011 Santa Parade are the stuff that Christmas dreams are made of.

Presented Dec. 9 by D&H Special Event Management, the capital city's 29th annual holiday tradition once again delighted young and old with an eclectic lineup of merry marching bands, a spate of sports cars, a bunch of Boy Scouts, a gaggle of Girl Scouts and a Santa in a pear tree. (OK – a Santa in a horse-drawn carriage.)

Horses aside, chances are if it had an internal-combustion engine, it traversed the parade route. A two-story grocery cart, sponsored by Save Mart Supermarkets, provided an impressive visual and provided a distinct counterpoint to the mini CHiPs cart that also "roared" past. Along with the novelty vehicles, there were ample examples of high-powered parade staples, including a volley of vintage Chevrolet Corvettes (many of which squired local pageant winners) and siren-blasting police cruisers.

In addition, equestrians mounted up, beauty queens charmed, the Sacramento River Cats' mascot Dinger waved, and KCRA news anchor/reporter Walt Gray donned his motocycle leathers to enliven the Saturday-morning event which launched at the corner of Ninth and I streets, and completed its rectangular route at the Westfield Downtown Plaza Ice Rink at Seventh and K streets.

KCRA and the now-defunct Weinstock's department store founded the parade in 1983, with D&H taking the reins in 1991.

Today, some 16 "presenting partners" sponsor the event, including Westfield Downtown Plaza, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Macy's and Sactown magazine.

Santa rides parade wind into Sactown

2009-11-28T23:37:03Z

Santa literally blew into town for today's Santa Parade. Though the winds were brisk and the air chilly, parade viewers stuck it out.

Parade participants and viewers were all struggling with the wind and cold.

Here's some scenes from this morning:

SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Our holiday season starts tomorrow!

2009-11-25T04:29:32Z

Tomorrow, November 25, the Sacramento's Tree Lighting festivities in Old Sacramento begins at 6:00 p.m.

•The festivities include live performances, a visit from Father Christmas and much more.

Visitors can join the fun and watch as Mayor Kevin Johnson flips the switch to light the

tree at 6:30 p.m.

• New this year, event-goers will be introduced to the Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights.

At 6:30 p.m., a symphony of lights, sounds and visual effects will take the audience

back to a time when the beloved poem The Night Before Christmas was first introduced

in Sacramento in 1857.

• The Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights will run two 10-minute light shows throughout

the holiday season Thursdays through Sundays at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

• The day after Thanksgiving celebrate the holidays in Downtown

Sacramento at the Carnival at St. Rose. The 5-week holiday event

will transform 7th and K streets into a festive winter carnival featuring

a 30-foot Ferris wheel, classic carnival and arcade games, food

vendors and more.

• The carnival remain open daily from Noon until 8 p.m. through January 3.

Westfield's 50 ft. Christmas tree and mall have been decorated for the past 28 years by Designs Unlimited, owned and

operated by Sandy Echart and husband John.

• Nov. 27 | 4:30 p.m.
The Westfield Downtown Plaza Tree Lighting festivities will begin at 4:30 p.m. with live entertainment, speeches by

elected officials and local celebrity guest appearances. Westfield’s 50-foot tree with thousands of dazzling lights

will be illuminated at 6 p.m. followed by a magical fireworks display.

• 7th and K streets will be lit up in holiday style throughout the season.

The lighting was designed and installed by Monkey Glue, owned and managed

by Ron Dumonchelle. Over 23,000 LED energy efficient lights adorn the upper

part of the buildings on one side of K street. Dumonchelle has provided

lighting displays for President Bush, Governor Schwarzenegger, NBC TV,

B Street Theatre and other corporate/commercial events.

• Santa parade on November 28, 2009, 10:00AM, featuring colorful holiday

floats, marching bands, and a special visit from Santa Claus. Enjoy live

children’s entertainment before the parade and lots of fun for the whole

family! Bring some chairs and find a spot for you and your family anywhere

along the parade route.

• The parade will start at Ninth and I streets and travel through downtown.

The 27th annual parade will travel east on I Street from its start at Ninth and to

13th streets, south on 13th Street near the Convention Center, west on L Street,

and north on Seventh Street. It will disband at Seventh and K streets. Announcers

will be located on I Street between Ninth and 10th and at 11th and L streets.

SacPress Photos | Kati Garner