Come Parade with us! Participate in a Christmas Parade! Renfest Promo Event! London Ontario

Name: Come Parade with us! Participate in a Christmas Parade! Renfest Promo Event! London Ontario
Start: 2024-11-16T17:00:00-05:00
Location: Quebec St, London, ON, Canada

Schedule

Sat Nov 16 2024 at 05:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Quebec St, London, ON, Canada | London, ON

We are participating in the London Santa Claus Parade to raise awareness about the Oxford Renaissance Festival and related events. We are looking for interested individuals to join our group in costume. We would love to see a whole host of people joining us!
Here is what you need to know.
Date: November 16th (Saturday)
Time: The parade begins at 6pm - so we need to be there, in costume, for 5pm. Generally, parades take about an hour to an hour and a half, and then we need to get back to where we parked. It is reasonable to expect we will be back at our vehicles by 8pm.
What to wear: Dress WARMLY - wearing base layers under your garb is strongly advised. Clothing appropriate for viking, medieval, renaissance, pirates, or related fantasy should be prominent. For historical purists - we will be about 10feet away from the audience - so using non historical fabrics is fine so long as it "looks" like it fits the era you are portraying. Wear gloves, scarves, boots, and anything else to keep you warm and happy! Be prepared for cold weather, or cold and rainy, or even some snow! If you do not have a costume (Or want to bring a family member who hasn't dressed up before), please let us know, and we will see what we can suggest.
Where to Park: Parade routes generally shut down the major streets at least an hour before the beginning of the parade. Look for side streets if main streets are closed. For this parade, we tend to park in the lot of the business at Pemberton and Wilson - which puts us close to the FACTORY off Kellogg Lane - but if it is busy, there is often parking on side streets. In the past, we have also parked by St. Patricks Church - it all depends on our float position. Our exact position will not be communicated to us until the week of the parade - be sure you have notifications on for this event to find out - or check back then!
How do we get back to the "start" of the parade? For this parade, we need to arrange our own rides to get back to the beginning. We will open up a discussion in the event page to figure out how many people are coming, and who should park at which end of the parade to ensure we have rides for everyone!
What to expect: We try to be parked by 4:30pm - as the streets that close slow us down quite a bit, and we need to arrange our own shuttles, and then get dressed by the car, and then walk up to find the float. We might help with last minute decorations, We spend some time socializing while we wait for the parade to begin. Our float is quite small and only holds about 3 - 5 people (please arrange in advance if you hope to ride the float, as we need to make sure we have seats available) , the rest of the group walks the parade route - usually in front of the float. Walking, waving, and smiling is the basic requirements. We generally are not allowed to hand things out - but some people may snap a picture of you as you pass by. At the end of the parade, we shuttle people back to the beginning as needed.
Who Can Parade? If you have costuming that works, can walk for an hour or so, and want to help promote the festival, you are welcome. We REQUIRE firm RSVPs just so we know how many people we have to shuttle back at the end. If you cant parade, but want to encourage us as we parade, we love hearing "God Save the Queen" or "Huzzah" as we pass by - it lets us know you know who we are, and brings joy to our hearts!