Granada Hills holiday parade brings festive cheer

By Hope Su

The annual Granada Hills holiday parade took place on Sunday, December 4 at 1:30 p.m. This was the 33rd annual parade, sponsored by the Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce. This year’s Grand Marshals were the first responders from Council District 12, represented by several firefighters.

This year’s theme was “Favorite Ugly Holiday Sweaters and Christmas Ties.”

There is a commemorative patch issued each year which features the theme which is available for parade participants.

The parade began at Petit St. and concluded at Zelzah Ave. and Kingsbury St. After the parade there was a presentation of parade awards such as Grand Sweepstakes and Best Use of Parade Theme.

There were over 100 entries this year. According to the holiday parade’s Facebook page, there were over 6,000 participants from local communities who took part in the parade.

These included marching bands, dance teams, civic organizations, veteran organizations, and both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. The Granada Hills Charter High School band and drill team also made an appearance.

The parade boasted festive costumes, floats, classic cars, holiday music, and horses.

The grand finale of the parade featured none other than Santa Claus on a fire truck.

“My favorite thing about the parade was how amusing the horses were as they danced to the music. It was also interesting to see how different the marching bands from other schools are,” senior Jillian Luna said.