Downtown Lebanon to celebrate the year of gingerbread with holiday parade

This weekend, downtown Lebanon will welcome the holiday season with a tree lighting at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, and a holiday parade at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 22 (rain date Saturday, Nov. 29), followed by carriage rides at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5 and 12.

Ahead of the festivities, LebTown spoke with Emmily Longenecker, vice president of the Community of Lebanon Association and co-chair of the holiday parade that attracts an estimated 5,000 parade-watchers each year.

Longenecker, who has been involved with the holiday parade for a number of years, told LebTown that a committee composed of CLA board members and volunteers works to organize the holiday parade each year.

The 49th annual Lebanon holiday parade will step off at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, on Cumberland Street from Lincoln Avenue to Ninth Street. There will be a judging area and broadcast booth on Cumberland Street near Seventh Street, where some groups will stop to give two-minute performances.

“Honestly, I see some blankets and chairs already hitting the sidewalks by 7, 8 o’clock just to reserve a good spot. But it’s such a long parade route, you know, it gives plenty of opportunity to find a spot along the way that you can see everybody that’s coming through, which is really nice,” Longenecker said.

Longenecker said one of the most challenging aspects of attending the holiday parade is finding parking, as many of the side streets will be closed for the event. She suggested arriving early and searching for public parking lots.

For those unable to attend in person, the holiday parade will be broadcast live on WiLBuR 99.7 with morning host Laura LeBeau and Froggy Valley 100.1 with host Nancy Ryan of the Nancy & Newman Show.

Longenecker said last year’s holiday parade, which she deemed CLA’s “biggest parade ever,” started at 10 a.m. and the final entry reached the end of the route at 1 p.m.

CLA introduced the idea of the holiday parade having a theme last year, along with a “Best in Holiday Theme” prize category, awarding $150 to the first-place participant who incorporates the year of gingerbread and $100 to the second-place participant.

Longenecker attributed the success of last year’s holiday parade, in part, to the excitement surrounding and interaction with the theme: “We had the most participants last year, and it was just really cool to see all the community that comes together. We have a lot of community members that walk through the parade and then find a spot and sit down and watch the rest of the parade.”

Because of this, the committee started to organize this year’s holiday parade by brainstorming a theme. The committee drew inspiration from other local holiday parades and selected this year’s theme shortly after last year’s holiday parade.

The committee completed most of its organizational work behind the holiday parade starting around July, with major pushes for sponsors, vendors, about 100 volunteers outside of regular CLA volunteers, and participants in September and October following the start of the school year.

The theme of this year’s holiday parade is the year of gingerbread, with two gingerbread men leading the parade. As of the interview, Longenecker said CLA was brainstorming additional ways to incorporate this year’s theme into the parade.

When asked what inspired the committee to select this year’s theme, Longenecker said, “Gingerbread really came just because we saw some cool opportunities for window displays and some different ways that we could incorporate the theme.”

Longenecker told LebTown that CLA is working with local businesses in downtown Lebanon to continue to celebrate the year of gingerbread throughout the holiday season with “a hunt and find gingerbread man.”

To kick off the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary in 2026, the holiday parade will feature a special patriotic division this year. A fife and drum group from the Philadelphia area will lead the division.

“We talked about, ‘Do we want the whole parade to be themed patriotic?’ but felt like we might be missing a little bit of the Christmas and holiday spirit if we do that. So, we will have a patriotic division in the middle of the parade,” Longenecker said.

CLA will award the first-place participant who incorporates the patriotic theme with $150 and the second-place participant with $100 in the “Best in Patriotic Theme” prize category. Longenecker said that when participants registered, they had to choose between the holiday or patriotic theme.

Other prize categories include “Best Float,” which awards $400 to first place and $250 to second; “Top Dance Group,” which awards $150 to first place and $100 to second; “Top Walking Group,” which awards $150 to first place and $100 to second; and “Decorated Emergency Vehicle,” which awards $150 to first place and $100 to second.

As for returning favorites, Longenecker said the holiday parade will feature three large helium balloons — two holiday-themed and one patriotic-themed — with the specifics kept a surprise for parade-watchers. At the time of the interview, Longenecker said CLA had commitments from at least four local high school bands and hoped to add several more.

“Santa has confirmed that he has put us on his schedule, and he will be able to join us for the parade,” Longenecker said of the kid-favorite who traditionally ends the procession.

“We are hoping to make this year’s parade even sweeter and bigger, and so, hoping to have just as many registrants joining us this year,” she said. “We just love when the community comes together to be able to see everybody coming out for that day. It’s just a really fun event.”

Other festivities include the holiday tree lighting at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, at 9th and Cumberland streets. “We always encourage people to come downtown and light the tree with us, and then visit our local restaurants and things like that for the evening, kind of make a night of it,” Longenecker said.

The holiday carriage rides will depart from the Lebanon Farmers Market on Friday, Dec. 5, and Friday, Dec. 12, at 5 p.m. each day. While walk-up tickets are sometimes available, Longenecker noted that the event traditionally sells out. Those interested can purchase tickets in advance at lebanoncla.com/holiday-carriage-rides.