Courtesy Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association
The Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association’s annual Ballston Spa Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting will takes place Friday, Dec. 6.
The step off time is 6:30 p.m., proceeding on Milton Avenue and ending in Wiswall Park on Front Street with Santa lighting the Christmas tree.
The parade is a hometown-style holiday tradition, with firetrucks, floats, animals, kids and Santa parading down the main street of the village.
The parade will spotlight the Toys for Tots campaign, in partnership with the Ballston Spa Community Emergency Corps, Saratoga County Sheriff Department and U.S. Marine Corps. Volunteers from those organizations will be on hand to collect donations of new, unwrapped toys from spectators along the parade route as well as at the tree lighting.
Parade participants are welcome. Organizations, groups or businesses that would like to take part in the parade can visit www.ballston.org to register, or contact the BSBPA office at 518 -885-2772 or info@ballston.org.
The parade headlines a holiday-themed “First Friday,” Ballston Spa’s signature monthly event, which is celebrating its 15th year.
Many businesses will be open with special holiday activities and specials, while local churches plan musical performances that evening.
Ballston Spa High School singers and musicians and Union Fire Company band members perform carols on the street corners. After lighting the village Christmas tree, Santa Claus heads to Ballston Spa National Bank on Front Street where he visits with kids of all ages.
Additionally, a community art project, “A Village of Friends,” will feature painted banners and posters by residents young and old displayed on lampposts and in storefronts throughout the village.
The Ballston Spa Business and Professional Association, founded in 1983, is a nonprofit community organization committed to making the Village of Ballston Spa a great place to live and work, and to bringing quality arts and entertainment events for all ages to the community. For more information, visit www.ballston.org.