30,000 Expected For Saturday's Parade

SARASOTA, FL —The reindeer are rested and Santa is poised to make his arrival in Sarasota Saturday during the 23rd Annual Sarasota Holiday Parade. The extravaganza hits the streets at 7 p.m. But Santa's elves will be closing streets as early as 7 a.m. ahead of the parade.

"He has hasn’t missed a year yet," said Danny Bilyeu, president and director of Sarasota Holiday Celebration Inc., referring to Santa's arrival.

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"He's always the last one, and he’s the only Santa in the parade," Bilyeu told Patch. "He comes from up north every year."

Bilyeu, a former Sarasota commissioner, said the parade was started by the late Paul Thorpe, who passed away last year at age 91 after decades of service to the community. His contributions earned him the nickname "Mr. Downtown." Thorpe passed the reins — or reindeer in this case — to Bilyeu three years ago.

"It's kind of special every year," Bilyeu said. "We have over 3,500 participants in the parade, 100 floats."

This year's theme will be "holiday for all ages" and Bilyeu said the theme was inspired in part by "The Christmas Song" which includes the line: "And so I'm offering this simple phrase. To kids from one to 92."

Bilyeu said parade organizers purposely avoid using the line in their planning. "We didn’t want to leave anybody out over 92," he confided.

City officials stressed that the downtown area will be open for holiday shopping on Saturday.

"Although Main Street parking will be curtailed for parade preparations, public parking garages and adjacent streets provide easy and ample parking," city officials said. "We encourage parade spectators to arrive early and park in one of several parking garages: State Street, Palm Avenue, Second Street. Then, enjoy the pedestrian-friendly atmosphere strolling through festive downtown."

That includes the Sarasota Farmers Market, which will be open for business as usual. The Sarasota Opera also has a performance scheduled at 7 p.m.

With crowds expected to reach 30,000 along Main Street, Sarasota police will be closing a number of streets.

"There will be several vehicle tow away zones and street closure notices in effect," the department said.

Here is an updated list of parade-related road closings as of Thursday:

• 9 a.m. Saturday - 12:30 a.m., Sunday: Main Street closed from U.S. 301 to Orange Avenue
• 11 a.m. Saturday - 12:30 a.m., Sunday: Main Street closed from Orange Avenue to U.S. 41
• 12 p.m. Saturday - 12:30 a.m., Sunday: Audubon Place closed from Main Street to Fruitville Road
• 12 p.m. Saturday - 12:30 a.m., Sunday: Fletcher Avenue closed from Main Street to Fruitville Road
• 12 p.m. Saturday - 12:30 a.m., Sunday: Wallace closed from Main Street to Fruitville Road
• 12 p.m. Saturday - 12:30 a.m., Sunday: East Avenue closed from Fruitville Road to Ringling Boulevard
• 12 p.m. Saturday - 12:30 a.m., Sunday: School Avenue closed from Main Street to Fruitville Road
• 2:30 p.m. Saturday - 12:30 a.m., Sunday: Lemon Avenue closed from First Street to Main Street
• 3 p.m. Saturday - 12:30 a.m., Sunday: Gulfstream Avenue closed from U.S. 41 to McAnsh
• 7 p.m.: Sarasota Holiday Parade begins

"Access will be available to the Palm Avenue and State Street Garages. Roads will re-open once the end of the parade reaches a two-block distance from each road closure," according to Sarasota police.

"Vehicles not removed by the posted time will be towed at the owner's expense," police added. For information on towed vehicles, contact Upman’s Towing at 941-365-7084.

Photo courtesy city of Sarasota and Sarasota Holiday Celebration Inc.