Belmont Shore opts for Winter Village day as pandemic cancels parade again

Long Beach

A day-long Winter Village on Second Street is taking signifier to regenerate the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade this December.

Board members of the Belmont Shore Business Association — which presents the Christmas Parade — voted past period to postpone the parade’s instrumentality until 2022.

The parade was canceled successful 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. In its place, the BSBA is organizing the Winter Village for Dec. 4, including unrecorded euphony and Santa Claus, enforcement manager Jessie Artigue said.

“We’ll person engaging, family-friendly activities up and down the street,” Artigue said. “The California Brass Consortium volition footwear disconnected the entertainment, and past volition person a quartet wandering up and down the street.”

Artigue added: “We were not going to fto that Saturday spell without a large vacation event.”

The past Belmont Shore Christmas Parade successful 2019 was the 38th edition. It included much than 100 entries and drew astir 50,000 spectators, organizers said.

Artigue said successful a merchandise that “post-pandemic fiscal restrictions, coupled with a clip crunch that occurred owed to remaining COVID-19 concerns were the 2 superior reasons that the committee of directors decided to spell a antithetic absorption with this year’s vacation event.”

The parade is expected to instrumentality successful 2022, she said.

This year, determination volition beryllium a main signifier of amusement connected 1 of the Chase Bank parking tons astatine Second Street and Nieto Avenue, Artigue said. Across Second, connected the Bank of America batch oregon successful the partially closed street, a “Shorth Pole” volition beryllium location to Santa Claus, who volition beryllium acceptable for visits and to judge letters to Santa.

Some of the broadside streets up and down Second Street volition beryllium closed to the alley, Artigue said, with businesses oregon organizations creating activities there. Those who usually person floats successful the parade could acceptable up connected those streets arsenic a “stationary activation,” Artigue added.

“We’re inactive moving connected the amusement lineup,” she said. “I’ve reached retired to Millikan, Renaissance and Wilson precocious schools for groups from there. The big drum corps that’s truthful fashionable successful the parade volition beryllium coming, and Manuel The Band volition perform.”

Installation of vacation decorations already has begun, and concern owners and operators are being urged to decorate their storefronts. Artigue said landlords of presently vacant storefronts are being contacted astir impermanent murals connected those windows.

“It’s going to look and consciousness precise festive,” Artigue said. “But Halloween is our absorption now. We’re going to person tons of amusive then, too.”

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