The highly popular Ocala Christmas Parade will return this Saturday, December 9 for its 67th installment, and motorists can expect multiple road closures and detours.
The festive parade will begin promptly at 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of SE 25th Avenue and E Fort King Street, moving north to E Silver Springs Boulevard. The parade will then turn left/west onto E Silver Springs Boulevard, and participants will travel 1.6 miles to NE 8th Avenue.
Upon reaching 8th Avenue, the parade will then turn right/north, ending just before Tuscawilla Park at NE 3rd Street.
The City of Ocala has provided a list of the road closures and detours that will be in effect on the day of the parade.
The following road closure will be in effect on Saturday, December 9, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.:
- SE 25th Avenue, from E Fort King Street to SE 14th Street.
Detour routes:
- NE 25th Avenue (southbound) – E Fort King Street to SE 22nd Avenue to SE 14th Street, back to SE 25th Avenue.
- SE 25th Avenue (northbound) – SE 14th Street to SE 30th Avenue to E Fort King Street to NE 36th Avenue to State Road 40 to State Road 492, back to NE 25th Avenue.
The following road closures will be in effect on Saturday, December 9, from 3 p.m. to midnight:
- State Road 40, from NE 3rd Street to N Pine Avenue/U.S. 441.
- SE/NE 25th Avenue, from SE 14th Street to State Road 492.
- E Fort King Street, from SE 30th Avenue to SE 22nd Avenue.
- NE 8th Avenue, from State Road 40 to NE 14th Street/State Road 492.
Detour routes:
- State Road 40 (eastbound) – U.S. 441 to NW/NE 14th Street/State Road 492, back to State Road 40.
- State Road 40 (westbound) – NE 3rd Street to NE 25th Avenue to State Road 492 to U.S. 441, back to State Road 40.
- SE/NE 25th Avenue (northbound) – SE 14th Street to SE 30th Avenue to E Fort King Street to NE 36th Avenue to State Road 40, back to NE 25th Avenue.
- NE/SE 25th Avenue (southbound) – State Road 492 to NE 36th Avenue to E Fort King Street to SE 30th Avenue to SE 14th Street, back to SE 25th Avenue.
- E Fort King Street (westbound) – SE 30th Avenue to SE 14th Street to SE 22nd Avenue, back to E Fort King Street.
- E Fort King Street (eastbound) – SE 22nd Avenue to SE 14th Street to SE 30th Avenue, back to E Fort King Street.
- NE 8th Avenue (southbound) – State Road 492 to U.S. 441 to State Road 40 (westbound) or State Road 492 to State Road 40 (eastbound).
On Saturday, December 9, there may be other minor road closures as determined by the Ocala Police Department.
Anyone with questions regarding these road closures should contact the City of Ocala Public Works Department at 352-351-6733.
Bleacher seating is available at the Ocala Shopping Center (1739-2015 E Silver Springs Boulevard) and in front of Save-A-Lot (1926 E Silver Springs Boulevard) for a $10 fee, which is payable online.
The City of Ocala Public Works Department has removed any chairs that were placed along the parade route before Wednesday, December 6. According to the city, this policy is in place as a precaution to prevent chairs from interfering with vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
To retrieve chairs that have been removed by the Public Works Department, call 352-351-6733 to schedule a time to pick them up.
The theme of this year’s parade is “Christmas Around the World,” and the Gray family (Ryan, Kait, and Palmer Gray) will serve as the Grand Marshals.
According to the Friends of the Christmas Parade, the Grays were chosen because of their “outstanding contributions to our community.” Ryan and Kait Gray started McKenzie’s Moment, a 501(c)(3) charity based in Ocala, after the passing of their youngest daughter, McKenzie Ryan Kearney Gray, in 2018.
Over the past five years, McKenzie’s Moment has donated over $3 million into the city of Ocala through Christmas toy drives, birthday clubs, school safety initiatives in partnership with the Public Education Foundation of Marion County, and a $1.7 million donation to help create the McKenzie Kearney Gray Maternal Fetal Medicine Program at AdventHealth Ocala.
For more information about the Ocala Christmas Parade, contact the Friends of the Christmas Parade via email at: OcalaParade@gmail.com.