FAIRHOPE – All three Eastern Shore cities have called off their 2020 Christmas parades citing a lack of participation, city officials said.
After changing the format to a drive-through event earlier, the city of Fairhope canceled the 2020 Christmas parade scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4, according to a city statement.
Spanish Fort has also canceled its parade and replaced other holiday celebrations with a combined drive-through weekend event, Mayor Mike McMillan said Sunday.
Daphne also canceled its parade scheduled for Thursday.
Fairhope announced the cancelation of the city’s parade on Sunday, Nov. 29. A statement on social media said the parade was called off to due to lack of participation.
“We tried to make it work and keep people safe and understand individuals and organizations want to do the same,” the statement said.
On Nov. 23, Mayor Sherry Sullivan said the Fairhope was changing the parade to a drive-through event as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.
“We have come up with a modification plan for the Christmas parade, which we knew could possibly be an option as we move forward and as we’re seeing a rise in COVID cases here in Baldwin County,” Sullivan said.
She said that after a large number of people did not wear masks or practice social distancing at the Lighting of the Trees on Nov. 19, city officials felt more precautions were needed.
“I think this is a great alternative for us since we didn’t want to encourage gathering at the parade, even though the parade route is big enough for people to social distance, but as we found during tree lighting, you can’t rely on adults to do the things they’re supposed to do,” Sullivan said announcing the change to a drive-through event on Nov. 23. “So, we provide a safe event, but we have to rely on the people who are coming to that event to do the things that they’re supposed to do and if they don’t then it creates a problem for all of us and this is a way we can still have the parade.”
McMillan said at the last Spanish Fort City Council meeting that municipal officials were also looking for ways to keep residents safe during Christmas celebrations.
“I’m becoming increasingly concerned about our Christmas parade because of the ongoing pandemic,” McMillan said. “We keep hearing in Mobile about their parades. I’m very concerned about the crowds, encouraging crowds that are not socially distanced at the Eastern Shore Center where we have our parade. Also, we’ve seen a great decline in our participants in our parade.”
He said Sunday that the city will hold a combined event on Dec. 6.
The drive-through event will be held at the Spanish Fort Community Center from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The celebration will include local choirs, dance troops and a live Nativity scene. Santa and his helpers will give out free books and other prizes for participants.
While Daphne’s Christmas parade scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5 was canceled, the city’s lighting of the Christmas tree was still scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 3.
Parade entries were much lower than usual and several groups decided to pull their applications as late as Monday, city officials said.
“We are moving forward with our Tree Lighting ceremony on Thursday,” Daphne Mayor Robin LeJeune said Monday. “We have made several changes to allow people to socially distance and stay safe while still celebrating the Holiday Season.”
Daphne’s Annual Tree Lighting is Thursday, December 3 in front of City Hall with musical guests Roman Street performing. The event will begin at 5 p.m. with the lighting ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. Due to COVID restrictions, there will be grab-and-go children’s activities and no food or drinks will be served. Guests are encouraged to wear face masks and bring chairs, according to a city statement.
