The holiday season officially gets underway on Saturday, November 23 when the annual Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade begins at 10 a.m. from Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street in Downtown Silver Spring. Traveling the same route as last year, the parade will proceed south on Georgia Avenue, ending at Silver Spring Avenue.
The parade features live performances by Akhmedova Ballet Academy, Princess Mhoon Dance Institute, and Maryland Youth Ballet including excerpts of Tschaikowsky’s Nutcracker Suite and Broadway-style numbers. Fourteen marching bands perform including college, high school, honor guard bands, and internationally themed bands. Performances take place at the intersection of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street.
ABC7 meteorologist Brian Van De Graaff and ABC7 traffic reporter Julie Wright will introduce more than 1oo glittering floats to the audience, including inflatable nutcrackers, snowmen, turkeys, dinosaur, and penguins; twirlers and beauty queens; fire engines; and performing dog and rescue animal groups.
This year’s parade begins with pilgrims, turkeys and Thanksgiving floats and ends with holiday music, a Hanukkah bear, reindeer, elves and, of course, Santa Claus.
The county is holding a raffle for tickets to sit in the grandstand. Enter to win online, here
Parade attendees can also enjoy holiday selfie-taking and activities on Veterans Plaza before and immediately following the parade.
The parade will be held rain or shine and will be broadcast live on WJLA 24/7 (formerly NewsChannel 8). The telecast will be repeated on Thanksgiving Day.
Scenes from the 2014 Thanksgiving Parade
