Wet weather doesn’t dampen joyful return of Merced’s annual downtown Christmas Parade
Armed with wet-weather clothing, umbrellas and plenty of holiday spirit, a large crowd gathered Saturday afternoon along Main Street for the annual Merced Christmas Parade.
The traditional version of the event with floats, fire trucks, police cars and dance groups making their way down Main returned for the first time since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s parade theme was “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree Through the Ages.”
“After two years of not being able to have this event or having it in a reverse parade, people want to be in the community which is great,” said Merced City Council Member Jesse Ornelas, who rode atop a fire engine.
“This is the best part of being on City Council,” Ornelas added.
Merced resident Karen Medrano found a great spot to watch the parade in front of Bob Hart Square with her husband and three kids.
“We came out for the kids,” Medrano said. “It was nice. The weather was not that great but we pulled through.”
Like the Medrano family, many people in the crowd were braced for bad weather with a winter storm expected to come through Merced this weekend. However, the rain held off until the tail end of the parade.
The crowd was treated to a event that included floats with local youth teams, city and county officials, local organizations, classic cars, people on horseback and local law enforcement officers and firemen. There were even a couple of local dance groups that danced in the rain toward the end of the parade.
After the parade, children were able to take photos with Santa Claus and there was a tree-lighting ceremony in Bob Hart Square.
