Christmas on Green Street is back in 2022!

PARADE APPLICATION LINK (Applications close November 23, 2022).

This magical event includes a parade of antique cars, holiday floats, marching bands, and community groups starting at the Gainesville Civic Center and continues all the way down Historic Green Street. Following the parade, Green Street will remain closed while people visit the historic homes and enjoy musical groups performing on front porches, strolling magicians, face painters, storytellers, jugglers, Santa Claus, miniature train rides, food trucks, and all kinds of holiday cheer! 

The traditional lighting of the Rotary Tree Ceremony begins earlier this year, starting at 6:15 for the tree to be lit at 6:30 p.m. at the intersection of Green Street and West Academy Street. 

Schedule

2 p.m. - Street closures
2 - 7 p.m. - Christmas at the Civic Center
2 p.m. - Movie begins at Civic Center
3 - 7:30 p.m. - Food Truck Festival 
4 p.m. - Christmas Parade
5 - 7 p.m. - Activities/Open Houses
6:15 - 6:30 p.m. - Rotary Tree Lighting
8 p.m. - Roads re-open

Parking

To be honest: It's tricky! While there are a few parking lots and decks nearby with handicap accessible parking, all of them still require walking a block or two to get to the parade route. There are a lot of side street parking options along the route, and people typically flock in from everywhere! With an anticipated 10,000 people in attendance and road closures starting at 2pm, we suggest planning ahead, arriving early, and dressing warm!

Here are a few parking areas to consider:

• City Park, Glenwood Drive NE 
• North Parking Deck: 100 Brenau Ave NE
• Hall County Parking Facility: 225 Green Street SE
• Main Street Parking Deck: 301 Main Street SW
• Note that First Baptist Church and the Civic Center are Staging Zones for the Parade

Parade Entry Information:  

(NO DAY OF ENTRIES. APPLICATIONS CLOSED NOV 23. We have 30 more entries this year than last year, making it the longest parade we've hosted on Green Street!)

• Staging time:  2:00 – 3:00 p.m.  
• Judging Time for Antique Cars / Floats: 3:30 p.m. 
• Parade start time:  4:00 p.m.
• Walking Groups: Stage at Civic Center
  • Please note: Walking Groups are groups with NO vehicles. All vehicles MUST line up on Thompson Bridge Road. 
  • Walking groups will stage at the Civic Center Parking Lot. You will have an assigned area, numbered, for your group to hang out in. 
  • There will be a loading zone where you can drop off people behind the civic center, but NO Parking. Buses will need to unload and move offsite. Please plan to park vehicles in the City Park or First Baptist parking lot, or on-street parking nearby. 
• Antique Cars and Floats: Check in at Thompson Bridge and Enota
  • NO entry before S. Enota. Do not cut through parking lots; please plan to drive your vehicles at the corner of S. Enota onto Thompson Bridge. 

  • Any float deemed inappropriate or unsafe by the judging panel or City of Gainesville will be pulled from the parade. All entries must be holiday themed in decoration.

  • As per the City of Gainesville Police Department, NO candy may be thrown from vehicles and NO paper may be handed out at all. Candy / giveaways may be handed out by walking participants in your group. This is a safety issue and a sanitation issue. We do not want children to run in the street in front of vehicles going after candy, and we want to avoid large amounts of liter on the roads, which happens every year. Please be respectful of these rules and consider having walkers next to your float or car to pass out goodies to continue to make the parade a fun experience for everyone.

  • We expect our usual crowd of 10,000, so please plan accordingly. 

  • No representations of Santa may be part of any float. We don’t want to confuse the children because Santa is the grand finale to the parade. 

  • Participants riding in the vehicles or floats must provide their own vehicles and drivers. Insurance and liability are the responsibility of the participant.

Event Layout Map

Thank you, sponsors!

A big thank you to our Featured Parade Sponsor, Smith Hulsey Law!

Gingerbread Sponsors: Norton Agency and Hasty, Pope, Davies!

Santa Sponsor: Strong, Gaddy and Lee; Kid Zone Sponsor:  Brightstone Transitions; Kiddy Train Sponsor: Gordon Pro Tree; and our Juggler Sponsor, Sheila Sanchez! 

Thank you to our Caroler Sponsors, Daniela Rivas and Lakeview Academy!

Thank you to our Main Street Program Sponsor, Brenau University!

Would your business like to sponsor this event? 

Visit https://www.gainesville.org/375/Event-Sponsorship for more info.

This community event is presented by:

Main Street Gainesville is a division of the Gainesville Convention & Visitors Bureau that focuses on economic activity in historic downtown Gainesville. Main Street Gainesville

Connect @DowntownGainesvilleGA