ICYMI: Evansville’s Christmas on North Main Parade 2021 has Been Canceled

The official parade announcement was made at the end of September, but many people missed that info, or like me simply forgot. The city of Owensboro, KY announced the cancelation of their annual parade, which brought up the question, What about the Evansville parade?

We always look forward to the Evansville Christmas Parade on North Main, and of course, we had to miss it in 2020. Well, unfortunately, the 2021 parade is also canceled. Santa's Workshop for the kids has also been called off. This was not an easy decision for the parade officials to make. The continuing COVID-19 pandemic is only one of the contributing factors for this decision.

We Can't Just Blame COVID this Time

In a news release, other factors include; Part of Main Street is closed, and the former ONB building is scheduled to come down that day, too.

The Evansville Christmas Parade on North Main Committee has made the difficult decision to cancel both the 2021 Christmas Parade and Santa’s Workshop. With the anticipation of more than 10,000 people attending the parade and more than 300 attending Santa’s workshop, we feel that there is just no distancing that can make it safe enough during these Covid times. 

The other factors were:  the scheduled implosion of the former ONB building on main, closing of many side streets in the downtown area, the booking of the Civic Center parking lot for an earlier event, low volunteer participation, and the closure of one lane of Main Street along the parade route not allowing for the width of some of the units to safely pass through.