Local options to see holiday themed parades aren’t limited to just San Antonio. Just a short drive up I-10, Boerne‘s nighttime parade has rebounded from a cancellation in 2020 because of the pandemic.
It’s this Saturday night, and it’s called the Weinachts Parade. Weinachts is the German word for Christmas.
“It’s our 35th parade,” city spokesperson Lissette Jimenez explained, “and it would have been our 36th if it wasn’t for COVID. So it has been a very long, happy tradition here. And this year’s theme is a winter wonderland.”
The Weinachts parade isn’t a quaint little affair with 10 or 15 floats. It’s huge.
city of Boerne
/
drill team marches
“We have 104 registered for this year, and that’s usually our average will go anywhere from 104 to 110. So we were right there,” she said.
She said given that it’s a nighttime parade, each float has to be lit, and be loud.
“It is also part of the requirement is to have some type of music and lights to be to participate in our Weinachts parade,” Jimenez said. “And I think that is also a little different than most parades.”
The loudest participants are usually the two local high school marching bands.
city of Boerne
/
“A Christmas Story”-themed float
“Everyone knows when the Boerne bands are coming down the road because there are local kids, and we always I think we’re always more excited to see our own local students performing,” she said. “We usually average anywhere between two to six marching bands.”
She said for families looking to make a night of it, there will be plenty of food vendors and restaurants in the area where the parade takes place.
“The parade starts at 6 p.m.. It starts by our fire station, and it works its way down Main Street. The streets close at 4:30 p.m.,” she explained.
KSAT Meteorologist Mike Osterhage is the Grand Marshal.