{"id":414294,"date":"2025-11-30T04:10:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T04:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/414294\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T04:10:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T04:10:20","slug":"50th-annual-coronado-holiday-parade-and-tree-lighting-the-brightest-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/414294\/","title":{"rendered":"50th annual Coronado holiday parade and tree lighting &#8211; the brightest yet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/coronadotimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2009.16.25-111.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-249813 size-full\" title=\"Coronado Holiday Parade Circa 1980s or 1990s. Photo submitted by Coronado Historical Society.\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2009.16.25-111-e1764423470806.jpg\" alt=\"Coronado Holiday Parade Circa 1980s or 1990s. Photo submitted by Coronado Historical Society.\" width=\"629\" height=\"790\"  \/><\/a>Coronado Holiday Parade, Circa 1980s or 1990s. Photo courtesy of Coronado Historical Association.<\/p>\n<p>The 50th Annual Coronado Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting will take place on Friday, Dec. 5 beginning at 6 pm. The cheerful tradition is brighter than ever. \u201cWe have over 50 parade entries, including businesses, clubs, and artists,\u201d says Coronado Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rena Clancy. \u201cThere is such an array of entries in the parade. What makes the holiday parade different from the Fourth of July parade is that it is a lot smaller \u2013 it\u2019s hyperlocal. It\u2019s such a feel-good evening.\u201d What you can count on is over 18,000 colorful lights (that\u2019s two miles of lights) wrapped around the Rotary Plaza tree, which will be lit by Santa Claus at the end of the parade.<\/p>\n<p>The event accomplishes several things. While the most obvious is spreading holiday cheer, it also serves as a core memory evening for attendees and a chance for businesses to connect with the community. \u201cWe have 17,000 people attending the event, which is a great opportunity for businesses to stay open late. From hot chocolate to holiday shopping, we want people to stay in town. We want them to grab dinner, grab a hot chocolate, get dessert, and enjoy the special, cozy night of the year,\u201d added Clancy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/coronadotimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2009162628.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-249814 size-full\" title=\"Diana Gurney, right, and Mary Kay Forsyth, left\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2009162628-e1764424002922.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"827\"  \/><\/a>Mary Kay Forsyth and Diana Gurney. When active with the Chamber of Commerce, they were responsible for expanding the parade. Photo courtesy of the Coronado Historical Association.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201cWe could not do this without the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronado.ca.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">City of Coronado<\/a>,\u201d Clancy says. \u201cThey provide a generous <a href=\"https:\/\/coronadotimes.com\/news\/2025\/06\/26\/city-awards-more-than-1-million-in-community-grants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">community grant<\/a> for this event and offer so much support through city services, the city manager\u2019s office, the police department, and the fire department.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the city\u2019s grants are all of the generous sponsors. The event\u2019s title sponsor is <a href=\"https:\/\/coronado.edcodisposal.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EDCO<\/a>. The parade sponsor and concert sponsor are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amwater.com\/caaw\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California American Water<\/a>. The stage sponsor this year is <a href=\"https:\/\/discovercoronado.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Discover Coronado<\/a>. Additionally, Discover Coronado and the city of Coronado are co-sponsors for the lights on the tree.<\/p>\n<p>There is still time for more volunteers to get involved. Block captains are needed for the to help coordinate lining up the entrants. Please reach out to Kerri Dowling at <a href=\"http:\/\/coronadotimes.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#d9b2bcababb099bab6abb6b7b8bdb6bab1b8b4bbbcabf7bab6b4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[email\u00a0protected]<\/a> to get involved.<\/p>\n<p>Along with the sponsors, businesses, volunteers, and attendees who make this event magical, Clancy pays tribute to the Coronado Chamber\u2019s Director of Membership &amp; Events, Kerri Dowling. \u201cThe organizer of this event is events manager Kerri Dowling. She is so passionate about the holiday parade and does a phenomenal job of putting it all together!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/coronadotimes.com\/event\/holiday-parade-and-tree-lighting-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-249272 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/parade-2025.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"526\" height=\"634\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The 50th annual holiday parade will begin at 6 pm on Orange Avenue at 8th Street and continue on towards R.H. Dana Place near the Hotel del Coronado. Santa will light up the tree in Rotary Plaza (near 10th and Orange) at 7 pm. It\u2019s recommended to arrive at least thirty minutes before the event begins to get a spot along the parade route on Orange Avenue.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2023-12-01-Holiday-Tree.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" td-modal-image wp-image-249868\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2023-12-01-Holiday-Tree.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"667\"  \/><\/a>Dec. 1, 2023 Rotary Plaza tree. (The Coronado Times)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201cThis is going to be the brightest parade yet!\u201d Clancy promises. \u201cBring your neighbors, bring your friends, bring your kids, and come and enjoy downtown Coronado while the streets are closed. Wear your festive attire and make a night out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Coronado Historical Association is seeking photos from holiday parades past and present. You can donate them by contacting: <a href=\"http:\/\/coronadotimes.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#442d2a222b04272b362b2a25202b2c2d37302b363d6a2b3623\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[email\u00a0protected].<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coronado Holiday Parade, Circa 1980s or 1990s. Photo courtesy of Coronado Historical Association. The 50th Annual Coronado Holiday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":414295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,188364,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-414294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-holiday-2025","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-sandiego","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115636696293203489","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}