A beautiful Christmas Season coming soon to New Albany
New Albany, MS- Our beautiful town is gearing up for the coming Christmas season, which will bring new sights and new events– in addition to old favorites.
“Christmas in Flight” Christmas Parade
While there had been some talk of moving New Albany’s annual Christmas parade to a day later in the week to coincide with holiday shopping downtown, this year’s parade will again be held on the first Monday night after Thanksgiving, which occurs on Monday night, November 28th.
According to organizers, the idea of moving the parade to a night later in the week came after discussions with number of merchants and float participants who preferred the idea of having it later in the week and not immediately after Thanksgiving weekend. However, the date change did not work for everyone, so it will remain as it has been.
The theme for this year’s parade is “Christmas in Flight.”
Evelyn Mason, who works with the Tallahatchie River Players in producing the event, wants folks to be whimsical in their ideas: “We immediately think of reindeer and angels, but we could also have hot air balloons, flying cars, or even a flying house like in ‘Up.’ As far as ideas about ‘Christmas in Flight,’ the sky really is the limit.”
Some names have been floated around for the Grand Marshall of the parade this year, and an announcement will reveal who this is in the coming weeks.
Christmas Tree Lighting at Cooper Park
A new event which will happen on the Thursday after the parade, Thursday night, December 1st, will be the New Albany Main Street Association’s Christmas Tree Lighting at Cooper Park. While all the plans for this event have not been finalized, Christmas carols and hot chocolate will likely be involved. The Christmas tree lighting will coincide with downtown’s extended shopping hours on Thursday nights throughout the Christmas season.
New Lights for Christmas
A new look is in store for New Albany this Christmas
In addition to the consolidation of Christmas events, New Albany will also have some new Christmas lights up this year. The New Albany Beautification Committee purchased the lights last year, at a cost of about $20,000.
The new lights will adorn the light posts downtown and over the bridge coming into town. In addition to the LED 4 foot snowflakes for the poles, there will be a “skyline” lighted drape across Bankhead at the intersection of Railroad Avenue at City Hall. The lights are on schedule to be put up by Sunday, November 13th, the date of this year’s Downtown Open House.
Downtown Open House
The popular Holiday Open House, to be hosted by the town and merchants of New Albany on Sunday, November 13th, will be filled with special shopping opportunities, beautiful decorations, visiting with friends, sampling goodies, etc. The Open House will get the Christmas Season off to a spirited start, as it does each year.
New Albany has been recognized in Mississippi Magazine (Mississippi’s TOP TEN Towns for Christmas, 2014) and a number of other publications in the past few years as one of the state’s top Christmas shopping destinations.
To have a float, or march in the parade, groups can sign up online here: https://visitnewalbany.wufoo.com/forms/z1z0ln3l0073qmk/ or visit the I Love NA Facebook page for the link.
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