Although Thanksgiving is only days away, members of the Burlington community came together on Saturday, Nov. 23, to ring in the holiday season in the 67th annual Burlington Christmas Parade.
More than 1,000 people lined the streets joining the young and old who took part in the celebration. Community members cheered at the 100 parade units, which included floats, horses and vintage cars that made their way through streets of downtown Burlington.
Several local marching bands, dance troops and even Santa himself joined various companies such as Goodwill and Re/Max to commemorate the start of the holiday season.
Dray Bland is the minister of the First Baptist Church on Apple Street. The church has participated in the parade for more than 30 years. Bland recently moved to Burlington and credits the parade for giving him a new perspective on the city.
"Well, I saw a city with lots of diversity and some routes I have never been through in Burlington and just kind of getting to connect to people and you can see the friendliness of Burlington and Alamance County at the parade this morning," Bland said.