Thunder Bay has a great way to kick off the holiday season that’s held on the first Saturday of each December. This year, that falls on Saturday, December 7. That’s when the city becomes a magical place of spectacular lights when the Annual Parade of Lights begins its route through the streets. Held at 7 p.m., thousands of residents line the route to welcome and cheer on the convoy of more than 100 brightly lit and festively decorated semi-trucks, floats, and vehicles of all sizes. And this year is particularly exciting as the Parade of Lights celebrates its milestone 25th year.
The parade evolved after a local company decorated a truck with glitzy seasonal lights, and riding in that truck became the wish of a child. From the beginning, the parade’s main goals have been to provide Thunder Bay residents with an amazing lighted parade to start the season, and to raise awareness and funds for four Thunder Bay charities. Monies raised at the 2024 parade will again be divided equally between the Thunder Bay Therapeutic Riding Association, the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre, and the Thunder Bay Chapters of Autism Ontario and Special Olympics Ontario.
Special recognition this year will be given to the inaugural Parade Marshall Larissa Rozenuk who will help to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Parade of Lights.
Sponsored by Thunder Bay Police Association and presented by TBayTel, the holiday event is organized by volunteers. During the parade, volunteers walk the route with official “Parade of Lights” donation cans for those who want to make a financial contribution for the charities. Last year, the parade raised $44,138.35 and had over a 150 participants.
At the time of this writing, registration was ongoing for the participants, along with notice of some wise rules to follow. These include not having anyone walk alongside a vehicle; no throwing candy or gifts from the truck; there is only one Santa in the parade and that will be with the TBPA truck at the end of the parade; and no controversial signage or topics are to be incorporated on any trucks.
As in the past, the route again starts at Manitoulin Transport site, then goes down Main Street to the Harbour Expressway, turning right onto Memorial Avenue, continuing to Queen Street and then following Fort William Road, ending where the road meets up with Water Street. Of note, there is a “sensory friendly section” where music and horn-honking from the participants has to stop and that begins after the turn onto Queen Street.
The Thunder Bay Police Association’s Parade of Lights presented by TBayTel (the city-owned telecommunications company operating in Thunder Bay and area) has become a 21st century tradition—a must see magical wonderland for residents of all ages in the Thunder Bay area.