Santa Claus is set to make his longanticipated return to Haliburton County on Nov. 20.
With the festive season quickly approaching, Highlands residents will have the chance to get into the Christmas spirit by attending the region’s first Santa Claus parade of the year, being held in Minden.
This will be the first such event since 2019, and Elisha Weiss, Minden Hills’ community development coordinator, says she’s excited to bring the parade back this year.
“The Santa Claus parade is usually the big kick-off to the holiday season for Minden. Last year, not being able to do it due to COVID, things didn’t quite feel the same,” Weiss said.
This year’s parade will begin at 11 a.m. at the Minden Curling Club. Floats will travel down Parkside Street to Bobcaygeon Road, then travel south down Bobcaygeon Road, over the main street bridge and along the downtown core before turning onto Newcastle Street and, finally, St. Germain Street. The route will end at the township offices.
“It’s not an overly long route. The parade usually lasts about 45 minutes,” Weiss said.
Initially, the township was planning to have a drive-thru event but with provincial regulations over in-person outdoor events changing last month, a decision was made to “quickly pivot” and organize a traditional parade.
There are only a handful of floats signed up so far, but Weiss expects there to be between 20 and 25 featured on the day. Anyone interested in participating in the parade can contact Weiss at eweiss@ mindenhills.ca.
Immediately following the parade, Santa Claus will be making his way over to the Minden Hills Cultural Centre, for an outdoor Christmas in the Village event, which will run until around 3 p.m.
“There will be some artisan vendors, a homemade bake shop and candy shop, some live music. And, of course, Santa Claus will be there. We’ll have a little space set up for him and families to do a little meet and greet,” Weiss said.
She added, “We’re just excited to be able to do this and, hopefully, kick off everyone’s season in a much better way this year.”
