Moncton Santa Claus parade will go on — in a parking lot

After torrential rains and high winds cancelled the Moncton Santa Claus parade last weekend, organizers have rallied to put on an unconventional replacement.

Robert Gallant, the parade co-ordinator, said there are a lot of logistics that go into planning a parade — just getting the street closure for the procession is a big deal.

So when they had to cancel, Gallant said, conversations started right away to see what they could do.

"If we've learned [anything] from COVID, it was how to pivot and adjust," Gallant said.

During COVID-19, the group put on a stationary parade, where cars could drive through a line of floats.

"Now this will be a walk-through one, but we just modified that plan yet again and came up with this option."

On Sunday, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., floats, live music, a food truck and Santa and Mrs. Claus will take over a portion of the Moncton Coliseum parking lot. People can park and walk through, admiring some of the floats that would have been in motion during the original parade.

Still, Gallant said there will be significantly fewer floats than were planned for last weekend.

"We originally had 82 floats," he said, adding that there will be around 27 for the walk-through event.

But he said that's one of the challenges with rescheduling a cancelled parade. With so many such events planned across the province, some floats might have other commitments.

And he also acknowledged that it's difficult for people to get their staff, volunteers or families together for one night, let alone for a second one because of the cancellation. But they are happy to have as many as they do.

And a reminder they'll be collecting letters to Santa at the event — a way to bypass any possible mailing delays.

"[Santa] will be there himself … so we can send them home with him."

The Santa Claus Parade in Fredericton is also planned for this weekend, on Saturday at 5 p.m., on the city's north side.