TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple Christmas Parade is one of Temple, TX's oldest and most beloved traditions.
Dating all the way back to 1946, the parade has delighted both Central Texans and visitors from beyond the area for 77 years.
The parade, which is traditionally held on the first Monday in December, features displays from local businesses, organizations, student groups and more, with a unique theme each year.
This year's theme is "Old Fashioned Christmas", which is fitting given the parade's long and storied history.
While the spirit of the parade has rung true for three-quarters of a century now, it has seen a few different incarnations.
Many years have seen the streets of Temple lined with floats made by churches or other organizations across the community, depicting familiar nativity scenes, favorite holiday characters or choirs singing their favorite hymns and carols, but the event has also taken itself off the ground for a special kind of parade.
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Gallery: The Temple Christmas Parade through history
Newspapers in late November of 1959 touted it as one of the biggest days in Temple's history, as both the "giant" balloon parade and a bi-district football game between the Temple High Wildcats and Corpus Christi was expected to bring in the largest crowd Temple had ever seen.
On Nov. 28, 1959, the parade saw 40 huge balloons of beloved characters, animals and holiday treats float through Temple, covering 26 blocks of the city. The parade was so massive in fact, that citizens were urged to move their cars out of the downtown area or risk being not being able to move them through the crowd until after the parade!
The Temple Daily Telegram described Temple as "the mecca for children and their parents" as the popular parade weaved its way through the streets.
The boasts were quickly proven not to be hyperbole, as an estimated 25,000 people braved the cold and wind to witness the historic 1959 parade, the biggest crowd the city had ever seen at the time.
Over the years, the Temple Christmas Parade has featured countless floats, marching bands and balloons spreading Christmas cheer (and even competing for cash prizes), as well as special appearances from various years' Miss Temples and of course, Santa Claus himself.
In addition to the parade, children would also make their annual pilgrimage to downtown Temple as Santa Claus made his yearly visit to the Municipal building, asking the children their holiday wishes and handing out seasonal goodies, like candy and pecans gathered from local parks.
Like Temple itself, the Christmas Parade may have seen its share of changes over the years, but its foundation has remained the same, spreading holiday cheer to Central Texans of every age.
For more on this year's parade, visit this link or DiscoverTemple.com.
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