Lighting Up The ‘Ville – Another Year At The Louisville Christmas Parade

Last year, I had the privilege of being asked to judge at the Louisville Christmas Parade. That was my first time being asked to judge a parade.  But, I guess I did a good enough job that they asked me to come back again this year.  The parade was this past Saturday.

Like last year, the City of Louisville created an all-day event. During the day they hosted the Lighting Up The 'Ville festival at Helen Clark Park. The festival featured all sorts of holiday fun for families. There were various vendors, a car show, a DJ, photos with Santa, performances, and more fun kids activities.

Because we had some other things to get done on Saturday, we didn't make it to town in time to check out the festival. But when we got there, most of the parade entrants were already in the courthouse square getting lined up. The parade was set to start at 6 p.m.

I was one of three judges.  Brian Prince, a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, was also a judge last year and returned to judge this year.  The other judge was George Cooper. He's a global hair stylist, educator, and platform artist.

After getting our clip boards and score sheets, the three of us went around the courthouse square to take a look at the entrants as they were prepping for the start of the parade.  We didn't start our judging at that point though.   Instead, we actually judged as the floats and cars came by during the parade.  This was great because by then it was dark and we really got to experience the lights and decorations on all the entries.

There were about 40 parade entries, but not all were part of the contest.  Overall, we had about half of the entries to judge.  And can I just say... there are some really creative people!  The theme this year was "Candyland" and there were definitely some amazing creations in the parade.

After the parade, we all went down to the park where it ended.  There, we awarded the winners in each category.  I also had a chance to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. After the awards, they set up to play a Christmas movie.

I will say, I was glad it was warm, and not rainy. Although when it's not cold, it doesn't feel quite like Christmas!  But overall, it was a great night at the Louisville Christmas Parade.  Check out some photos below!