Registration Underway for Seminole Holiday Parade

SEMINOLE — The Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce seeks participants for its annual Bright Before Your Eyes Holiday Parade, which takes place Sunday, Dec. 8, starting at 6:30 p.m.

The parade lines up at St. Petersburg College’s Seminole campus and travels south to the Seminole City Center.

Local businesses, nonprofits and civic organizations are invited to submit their applications to be a part of the city’s holiday tradition. Parade registration is due to the chamber by Saturday, Nov. 30.

“Not only is it a great event for the community, it brings about 4,000 people to the center of Seminole to see the parade,” said Tara Nichols, executive director. “It’s a light parade, so the lights really make it fun to see.”

The chamber hopes to increase the number of units in this year’s parade to around 50, she added. Last year’s parade featured just 36 units.

A lot of change was taking place at the chamber at the end of 2018, Nichols said. Former president Roger Edelman retired in December and she joined the organization as executive director. With all of these changes, last year’s parade nearly didn’t happen.

“We had a committee board member put it together last minute,” she said. “We were going to cancel it.”

Now, the focus is on growth, Nichols said. The event draws thousands of viewers and many who stream the parade on social media, making it an easy way for Seminole area businesses to connect with the community, she said.

“It really is great exposure for a business,” she said. “It benefits the folks that live here and the business community.”

Entry fee is $50 for businesses and $35 for nonprofits. All participants must attend a mandatory parade meeting Tuesday, Dec. 3, 7 p.m., at the chamber office. Information on illumination requirements, unit number, line-up and parking will be distributed at this time.

The chamber is also launching a new sponsorship package that offers event naming rights of its various events throughout the year. Although the chamber is pushing these sponsorships for 2020 events, the naming opportunity is still available for the 2019 Bright Before Your Eyes Holiday Parade.

The registration application can be found at myseminolechamber.com. For information about sponsorship, call 727-392-3245.

SOURCE: tbnweekly.com