The 39th Annual Queen Creek Holiday Festival and Parade was a big success yesterday, Dec. 4, as the Queen Creek Fire and Medical Department got the chance to show off their newly restored antique fire truck in the heart of downtown Queen Creek.
"We have a new antique fire truck as the newest addition to our fleet. It's not a responding unit, but we use it for events like the parade," Fire Chief Vance Gray said. "We finished (restoring) it in time for Trunk of Treat this year. We got it from the Hall of Flame. It was one they had but didn't intend to use for the museum. We made the donation to take possession of it in July and our staff began to work on it and now it runs, drives and stops, making it available for these town events."
The annual event benefits the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce and Kiwanis Club of Queen Creek. The highlight of the family-friendly festival is the parade, which featured more than 60 entries ranging from marching bands and dance troupes to floats and the big man himself, Santa Claus.
"This is a great small town parade and we're so happy to be able to keep this tradition going for the community," said Chris Clark, president and chief executive officer of the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce. "It takes hundreds of people and our terrific sponsors to make this happen."
More than 10,000 guests enjoyed carnival rides, bounce houses, arts and crafts, live entertainment, food, a Christmas tree lighting ceremony and photos with Santa. This year’s theme was Christmas in Candyland.
Event history
The Queen Creek Holiday Festival & Parade is a long-standing community event produced by the Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce and Kiwanis Club of Queen Creek. The festival fosters a sense of civic pride and provides a fun, family-friendly experience while raising awareness of the organizations and their missions.
The Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce assists businesses of all sizes from all over the area because strong businesses create strong communities. For more information, visit QueenCreekChamber.com.
The Kiwanis Club of Queen Creek is a group of professionals from all industries: engineering, medical, real estate, education, legal and business. All are dedicated to making their community a better place. Among their numerous community initiatives, the Kiwanis award scholarships to local high school students, distribute dictionaries to all Queen Creek third graders annually, sponsor local families in need during the holidays and more. For more information, visit http://Queen-Creek-AZ.KiwanisOne.org.
