Lufkin's revamped Christmas Parade, scheduled for December 7, has been cancelled due to lack of entries. Due to safety precautions, officials had reworked this year's parade to be a 'Reverse Christmas Parade' in which the entries stay parked and the onlookers drive by.

Lufkin Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Executive Director Taylor Commiato said only 20 groups had signed up, while they hoped for at least 50. During a normal year, the LCVB limits parade entries to 100 participants.

“Although it was going to look a little different this year due to COVID-19, we were looking forward to still being able to bring some form of our annual Christmas parade to the community,” Commiato said. “When we evaluated our signups this week, we made the difficult decision to cancel. We even reached out to all of last year’s participants to see if they would be interested, but most were opting out due to COVID.”

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Though the parade is cancelled, Christmas in the Pines remains set for December 5 from 2-8 p.m. Christmas in the Pines will feature a host of activities and attractions for the young and young at heart, including the Lighting of Rudolph at 6 p.m. From 2-4 p.m. there will be live performances on the stage from local groups such as the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council who is sponsoring a fun Zumba experience, Lufkin Parks and Recreation who will be showcasing some of their fun programs, and Susan’s Studio of Dance will be featuring their students.

From 3-5:30 p.m., Santa Claus will be posing for photos inside the historic Pines Theater. Photos will be taken by Texas Size Selfie and are complimentary for attendees. At 4:30 p.m., get ready to cheer as competitors take on the 2nd Annual Fire Truck Pull Competition. Each team is allowed up to 12 people to help pull the 33-ton fire truck. A timer will begin when the team begins to pull, and the timer will be stopped once the team pulls the front of the fire truck past the finish line (50 feet from the start line). Each team will go 2 rounds, and the team with the fastest average time wins bragging rights.

Once Rudolph is lit, the celebration continues with more shopping and entertainment by Pineywoods Jamboree presented by Hughes Entertainment until 8 p.m.

If you are interested in being a vendor or signing up to compete in the Fire Truck Pull please go to www.visitlufkin.com or call 936-633-0349.

The annual Christmas Parade in Nacogdoches has also been cancelled.

 

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