Destin Christmas Parade rolls through town
With the temps in the mid-60s, and the sun shining, Christmas rolled through Destin on Saturday with more than 80 entries, including Santa and Mrs. Claus.
The theme for the 40th annual Destin Christmas Parade was “Flashback to 1984” in keeping with the 40th birthday celebration of Destin this year.
“The parade was totally tubular, dudette,” said Destin parade chair Helen Donaldson in keeping with the theme.
“It was a beautiful day for a really fun parade. We had lots of creative floats and community participation,” she said.
Before 9 a.m., people were already lining U.S. 98 through Destin in anticipation of the parade.
Johnny King, who was there with his family, said this was a day he always looked forward to as a kid. And on Saturday his 20-month-old daughter Walker watched the parade atop his shoulders.
The King family was just one of thousands out, dressed in holiday attire, with huge decorative hats and ugly Christmas sweaters. The Grinch was even spotted in the back of a truck ready and waiting for the parade to roll out.
The parade began promptly at 10 a.m.
“The 80s theme was represented throughout,” Donaldson said.
With Destin Water Users taking the “Crowd Pleaser Award” with a huge Rubik’s Cube on their float.
Other winners in the parade in the various categories were as follows:
Band Award – McGuires’ Irish Bagpipe Band.
Children’s Civic Award – Destin Dolphin Cheer.
Children Commercial Award – Envision Dance Students.
Civic Club Award – Marine Corp Toy’s for Tots.
Commerical Award – AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar.
Religious Award – Church of Latter-Day Saints.
The parade lasted nearly two hours.
“It was a great parade … couldn’t have been done without the great Christmas parade committee and the bodacious Parks and Rec staff at the city of Destin,” Donaldson said.
(This story was updated to change or add a photo or video)
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