‘There’s so much joy out there.’ Annual Merced Christmas Parade draws huge downtown crowd
There was fake snow and candy in the air as the annual Merced Christmas Parade returned to Main Street on Saturday afternoon.
The event drew a huge crowd as people lined both sides of Main Street along the parade route from G Street to O Street. People started setting up their seats about an hour before the start of the parade.
This year’s parade had over 80 entries, including 30 floats and eight marching bands. There were fire trucks, police cars, dance groups, car clubs, local businesses and youth groups taking part of the parade. The parade theme this year was “All I Want for Christmas.”
Merced resident Joshua Amaro brought his wife and two sons to the parade for the first time.
“We brought the family to let the kids get into the Christmas spirit,” Amaro said. “It’s the first time but going forward we’d like to make this a tradition. We’re thinking about doing a float next year for our business.”
Amaro said his sons had a blast.
“They loved the motorcycles, seeing all the Santas,” he added. “They liked the candy being thrown at them.”
The entries also included local law enforcement officers and firemen, county and city officials.
“We go down with the City Council on the fire truck and to see both sides of the street packed with people, to see so many people happy, so many smiles, there’s so much joy out there,” said Merced mayor Mattew Serratto.
After the parade, children were able to take photos with Santa Claus and there was a tree-lighting ceremony in Bob Hart Square.
“It’s beautiful, everyone coming together for Christmas,” Serratto said. “It’s probably our country’s best holiday. To see so many people out, so many people happy, so many people embracing our town is a beautiful thing.”
