The event returns on Friday, November 26 for its 40th annual installment. Festivities begin at 6 p.m., and the parade will be broadcast on KABB-TV/CW35 from 7-8 p.m.
Under the banner of “40 Years of Magic,” the parade will celebrate its history with 28 illuminated floats representing past years’ themes including Holiday Traditions Around the World (1984), Holiday Toyland (1996) and A Theatrical Christmas (2008).
This year, the parade’s Grand Marshal is straight out of a children’s book: Willy Wonka, the wildly eccentric candymaker from the Broadway production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, will assume the mantle.
After Wonka’s stint as Grand Marshal, he can be seen at the Majestic Theatre from December 7-12 as part of the musical’s touring production.
“There is something magical about the holiday season in San Antonio, and the Ford Holiday River Parade is a special part of that,” Visit San Antonio President and CEO Marc Anderson said in a statement.
Visit San Antonio is producing the parade for the first time this year.
“Against the backdrop of one of the country’s most celebrated lights displays, visitors and locals alike get to experience a holiday offering unlike any other,” Anderson continued. “It’s part of what makes San Antonio an authentic, inviting destination, year after year.”
Tickets are currently available online.
$15-$40, 6 p.m. Friday, November 26, San Antonio River Walk, thesanantonioriverwalk.com.
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This article appears in Aug 11-24, 2021.