Owatonna unwraps the holiday magic
Owatonna is ready to unwrap the magic of the holiday season.
As a kickoff to a holiday weekend throughout the community, Owatonna will host its annual Holiday Lighted Parade on Friday at 6 p.m. along Cedar Avenue in the downtown area.
Lisa Cochran, who serves as director for Main Street Owatonna, said she has 85 units committed for this year’s parade. It’s roughly the same number of units as last year, but down from 100 plus a few years ago.
Cochran said she is happy with keeping the number of units limited to 85 to prevent the parade from getting too long with people standing out in the cold. Her goal is to keep the parade to one hour.
There are many new parade units this year, Cochran said. “We have some great entry ideas,” she said.
Ever since the parade got to be too long and spaced out too much a few years ago, Cochran has been more intentional of keeping the parade running more efficiently. Parade units are asked to not stop along the route so that things will go smoothly and keep to the one-hour limit. She has volunteers along the route to remind units to keep moving.
As in past years, the parade will be streamed live on Owatonna Live with a new twist. Cochran said there will be commentary offered throughout the parade so that people aren’t looking at just video.
A company specializing in geo-fencing estimated last year’s parade crowd at 6,000, according to Cochran. “It was much higher than what I thought it was,” she said of the attendance. “We have a lot of people crammed into a four-block space on Cedar. It is hard to believe,” she added.
Cochran said the popularity of the parade speaks to the community. “The one thing that really sticks out is the community support,” she said. “People bundle up and they are there for a parade. It’s like a warm fuzzy on a cold night.”
She noted how people come from all over the region for the parade. “We are growing and making an effort to show people Owatonna is a great place,” she said, adding the community has so many great things to offer guests.
About 10 minutes after the parade ends, the official lighting ceremony will take place in Central Park. Dan and Sandy Kubista, who are business owners in the downtown area, have been chosen to flip the switch on the lights.
The Owatonna High School Carolers will warm people’s hearts with holiday music. New this year will be the awarding of the top parade unit winners after the singing. There will be prizes for the top three units. In the past, the parade winners were notified after the event.
There are other holiday activities throughout the community over the weekend and coming weeks.
“It’s a great way to kick off the weekend and get people into the holiday spirit,” Cochran said.