Raleigh Christmas Parade will be held without crowds this year. How you can watch.
Raleigh’s Christmas parade, a tradition since 1944, will be virtual rather than live this year, running without spectators on the downtown Raleigh streets.
Shop Local Raleigh and ABC11 on Thursday announced the change due to the coronavirus pandemic. The annual parade is scheduled for Nov. 21.
The event has drawn more than 65,000 people from across the state and is considered the largest holiday parade between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.
Disney-owned ABC11, which has held exclusive broadcast rights to the parade since 2017, has launched new apps on streaming platforms and viewers can also stream the parade live on ABC11.com, ABC11 North Carolina news app, and ABC11’s connected TV apps on Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku.
“The annual Raleigh Christmas parade is such an important way for the community to come together in a longtime tradition, and also to connect with their local small businesses especially during these times,” said Rob Elmore, president and general manager of WTVD-TV, in a news release.
“Despite the challenges of this unprecedented time that prevented a physical gathering, we are confident that presenting the parade virtually will help in preserving the tradition and delivering a way for the community to still safely experience it.”
Elmore said in an email to The News & Observer that they are still in planning stages and will have more announcements later regarding performances.
Parade will air on two local stations
WRAL also plans to air the parade this year, according to the station’s vice president and general manager, Joel Davis.
“WRAL plans to carry any of the publicly available elements of the virtual event,” Davis told The N&O. “But we also are planning a special celebration marking our 47th year of live parade coverage, so viewers will get an amazing live experience, even without a typical parade this year.”
WRAL continued to air the parade after WTVD won broadcast rights in 2017.
Two years ago, WRAL started a Winter Wonderland with family activities, taking place downtown just after the end of the parade. Davis said WRAL has not yet made a decision on Winter Wonderland for this year.
Other annual Christmas events, such as the Historic Oakwood Candlelight Tour in Raleigh, have already been canceled this year due to COVID-19.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 9:40 AM.