La Jolla Christmas Parade & Holiday Festival looks to welcome guests ‘home’

For those looking to be “happy in a million ways,” the 69th annual La Jolla Christmas Parade & Holiday Festival coming up Sunday, Dec. 7, seeks to provide new and expanded offerings for children of all ages.

With the theme of “There’s No Place Like Home (for the Holidays),” the Christmas Parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. along Girard Avenue at Kline Street and last for about 90 minutes.

Stacked holiday events season starts early in La Jolla

The Holiday Festival will be spread across two venues for the first time.

The Santa’s Workshop portion from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. along Wall Street will focus on science, technology, engineering, art and math activities, including arts and crafts, robotics and coding demonstrations. Santa Claus will visit for a limited time.

The Santa’s Village portion from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the La Jolla Recreation Center on Prospect Street will feature family-friendly entertainment, games, pony rides, bounce houses, face painting and more.

The Holiday Festival historically had been held at the Rec Center but was moved to Wall Street in recent years.

As an added feature this year, organizers are looking to livestream the parade for the first time.

The parade is poised to be the “biggest one we have had since COVID and maybe the biggest one ever” in terms of participation, said chairwoman Ann Kerr Bache, who estimated there will be 80 entries and 2,000 people in attendance.

As with past years, the parade will feature marching bands from across San Diego County, floats, equestrians, vintage vehicles, adoptable dogs, community leaders, schools, community service organizations, parade marshals and more.

But none of them will be dressed as Santa Claus, because that’s not allowed.

“There is only one Santa,” Kerr Bache said with a laugh.

And that Santa will ride in a classic car owned by the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club as the grand finale to the parade.

Kerr Bache said the permit fees and vendors would not be possible to pay without donors. This year’s “Christmas angel” is Dianne Bashor, who contributed a large undisclosed amount to the parade.

Donations are still being accepted to cover the last $30,000 in expenses and provide seed money for next year’s parade.

“It’s all fantastic. … It really is a hometown event, but we have participation from across the county and it is open to everyone,” Kerr Bache said.

To find out more, visit ljparade.com.