Annual parade to ring in holiday season Dec. 6

Mark your calendars. Save the date. The Neiman Marcus Adolphus Children's Parade presented by Capital One Bank is set for Saturday, Dec. 6, beginning at 10 a.m. and traveling along Commerce Street in downtown Dallas.

The annual parade, featuring giant inflatable balloons, floats, marching bands, dancers, antique and collectible automobiles, costumed cartoon characters and plenty of clowns, is eagerly anticipated by many in the Metroplex as the start of the holiday season.

Santa's workshop is the theme

The theme for the parade this year is "Santa's Whimsical Workshop" and, as ever, the jolly old man himself will appear. The parade will unfold like chapters in a book that represents the supernatural efforts by Santa's elf helpers at the North Pole to prepare for Saint Nick's big night.

Last year, the nationally televised parade, now entering its third decade, drew a crowd estimated at more than 350,000 under blustery skies and reached a TV audience of some 118 million households.

The parade is free and open to the public. The event benefits the Child Life department at Children's, a family-centered outreach effort that provides non-medical services to patients and their families to help them cope with hospitalizations and recovery.

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