East Ottawa residents marked one month until Christmas Eve with Santa’s Parade of Lights Saturday night.
More than 100,000 people came out for the procession through the streets of Orleans, organized by the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association to benefit local underprivileged children.
“It brings in a lot of people - community groups, businesses, firefighters and emergency service workers,” said parade chair Bob Rainboth. “We have a real good celebration in the streets of Orleans.”
"This is the number one parade in the city, if not the country,” said councillor Rainer Bloess. “It brings the community together, you're going to see 100,000 people out here singing and cheering and chanting."
The holiday spirit was only bolstered by the breath-showing, sometimes snowy conditions on display after its 6 p.m. start.
“We like the spirit and we like snow, so it was really cool because it felt like Santa was coming,” said Adrienne Vienneau.
“We like the candy canes because we bake cookies with them.”
“(The snow) makes it look more decorated for the festive holidays and it makes it seem like Christmas is coming sooner,” said another boy.
The 15th edition of the parade was led by CTV Ottawa’s Kimothy Walker, serving as parade marshall through the chilly winter conditions.
“Everybody’s just really in the spirit now,” Walker said. “It’s so typically Ottawa to come out, have fun but also collect toys and money for children in need.”
Upcoming Santa Claus parades include Smiths Falls and Russell on Sunday, Aylmer on Friday and many more Dec. 1.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Katie Griffin
