Niantic Light Parade Details, Road Closures Announced

EAST LYME, CT — East Lyme Public Safety shared details on social media concerning the 35th annual Niantic Light Parade.

Here are the full details as shared by East Lyme Public Safety on their Facebook page:

On Saturday, 12/9/23, the 35th annual Niantic Light Parade will once again travel through our beautiful downtown! The parade will start at 6pm at the corner of Columbus Ave., proceed down Main St. (Rte 156) to Pennsylvania Ave. (Rte 161), ending on Grand St. The rain/snow date will be Sunday, 12/10 at 5pm and all times noted below will roll back one hour!

ROAD CLOSURES & PARKING BANS (SEE “TRAFFIC PATTERN” MAP):

•Main St will be closed to vehicles at 5pm from Black Point Rd to Main St at Pennsylvania Ave to Grand St.
•Columbus Ave & Haigh Ave will close to all except Columbus Ave residents at 4pm
•There will be no parking allowed along parade route starting at 4:30pm
•All traffic will be detoured north onto E. Pattagansett Rd, then east on Hope St back to Pennsylvania Ave (Rte 161) North.

The parade will last about 2 hrs. At the conclusion, the road will reopen and East Lyme Police along with mutual aid partners from local police departments will direct vehicular/pedestrian traffic to their destinations. IMPORTANT: E. Pattagansett Rd (heading toward Flanders) will be CLOSED following the parade. Plan to exit the area via Rte 161 (Pennsylvania Ave) or Rte 156 (W. Main/Main St). This pattern helps facilitate traffic flow for spectators exiting the area.

Our police officers and mutual aid partners are seasoned in the art of a mass exodus from this event, but we ask that you pack your patience when you come downtown as thousands of spectators attend this holiday spectacular annually.

PARKING FOR THE LIGHT PARADE:
Public parking is available at the Municipal lots on Hope St, Town Hall on Pennsylvania Ave, Cini Park on Main St, Methodist St, Niantic Center School on W. Main St. IMPORTANT: Hole in the Wall lot on Main St is not blocked off from the public; however, any vehicles still in the lot at 4:30pm on parade day, will be stuck there until Main St re-opens!
**No public parking at McCook Park as this is the assembly area for parade participants.

Come down early and enjoy our beautiful town! There are lots of great places to eat and do some holiday shopping!

East Lyme Police Department also posted the following message concerning the event.

"It's looking like great weather for the light parade this weekend. As a reminder, there will be no parking on Main Street between 5 pm and approximately 9 pm on Saturday the 9th. Once the Public Works department has cleaned the sidewalks and cleaned Main Street, we will open it back up to vehicular traffic. Please expect some traffic delays following the parades conclusion as everyone is trying to leave. If possible, seek an alternate route. We will do our best to clear up the congestion as smoothly and efficiently as possible. We look forward to seeing everyone. Please be safe and enjoy all the hard work that has gone into the amazing floats and performances that you will see during the parade."