The 40th Annual Queen Creek Holiday Festival & Parade will take place Saturday, Dec. 3 in the heart of downtown Queen Creek. The free-to-attend community parade will feature 70 floats, vendors and a tree lighting ceremony.
What first started as an annual small-town parade put on by local residents has expanded to a full-size parade event, according to Chris Clark, CEO of the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce. The event may have taken on a larger scale, but the focus on family and kids stays the same, he said. The parade is during a festival, which includes several vendors and live entertainment.
“It’s a great family event, a longtime tradition,” Clark said. As one of the organizers, he intentionally tries to keep the original small-town atmosphere from the parade’s founding.
Aside from floats, there will be a variety of vendors as well. Those attending range from small, local stands selling handcrafted items to businesses from the community. For the live entertainment, there will be two stages for music and performances, with shows including local student groups and bands.
The holiday event is centered around families, and that means a lot of families and children participating. About 1,000 kids will be in the parade.
“I always say, if you don’t have a child in the parade, you know a child in the parade,” Clark said.
The event supports the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Queen Creek. The two organizations put on events connecting businesses to the community, service projects and other educational events.
The festival begins at 2 p.m. with the parade starting at 3:30 p.m. and the tree lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. The parade starts at 22407 S. Ellsworth Road.
