The Downtown Guelph Business Association says its annual Santa Claus parade is cancelled for the second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parade organizer Sam Jewell said there are many factors that contributed to the decision.
“Unlike other outdoor events that take place in easy-to-enclose spaces, there are multiple access points to a parade making it impossible to manage social distancing and crowd capacity,” she said in a statement.
“The community groups we rely on to make the floats are not congregating in the same way, and with less than two months until our traditional parade day, it is time to look at an alternative”
That alternative is what they did last year, with Santa moving to the Sparkles in the Park event at Riverside Park.
In previous years, people walked through the park to see the various light displays. But due to the pandemic, it switched to a drive-thru format last December with Santa seated inside a giant snow globe.
Jewell said having cars drive by Santa proved to be hugely popular.
“It was magical,” she said. “People got to see Santa as he sat and waved from the safety of his snow globe surrounded by the beautiful illuminations and we are grateful to the Sparkles organizers for including him.”
Dates for Sparkles in the Park will be announced later in the year.
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