Original language(s) English | Country of origin Canada | |
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Starring Ken Shaw and Melissa Grelo 2010-present - CFTO-DT/CP24Rosey Edeh (2009) and Leslie Roberts 2005-2009 - Global TorontoFaye Dance, Sandy Hoyt (1985-1997) and Susan Hay (1990s until 2008) - Global Toronto No. of episodes 111 (as of November 15th, 2015) Location(s) Downtown Toronto from Christie Pits along Bloor Street West, south on Avenue Road/Queen's Park Crescent/University Avenue to Front Street West, east along Front to St. Lawrence Market | ||
Toronto santa claus parade november 20 2016
The Toronto Santa Claus Parade is a Santa Claus parade held annually on the third Sunday of November in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The latest parade was held on Sunday, November 20, 2016. More than a half million people attend the parade every year. The televised parade, broadcast nationwide on the CTV Television Network, starts at around 12:30pm and runs about an hour and a half. It now has over 25 floats, 20-25 bands and 1,700 participants. The parade route is almost 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) long. It is one of the biggest parade productions in North America.
Contents
- Toronto santa claus parade november 20 2016
- Toronto santa claus parade 2016
- Founding
- Near demise and revival
- Changes
- Broadcasting
- Closure and access
- References
Toronto santa claus parade 2016
Founding
The Toronto Santa Claus Parade was first held on December 2, 1905 with just a single float. Sponsored by the Eaton's chain of department stores, Santa was collected at Union Station, and delivered to the downtown Toronto Eaton's store.
The parade grew in size each year and attracted large crowds. For the 1913 parade, Eaton's brought in reindeer from Labrador to pull Santa's sleigh.
Beginning in 1947, a recurring character, Punkinhead, was seen each year in the parade. Punkinhead was a character in a series of storybooks sold by Eaton's.
By the 1950s the Toronto parade was the largest Santa Claus parade in North America, and it is now one of the oldest annual parades in the world. Eaton's continued to pay for the paraded, which was used to promote its retail business. The company's Merchandise Display Department worked year-round at Eaton's Sheppard and Highway 400 service building to make costumes and build floats and mechanized window tableaux.
From 1925 until the late 1960s the floats from the parade were reused in Montreal where Eaton's had been holding Santa Claus Parades since 1909. This arrangement was cancelled due in 1969 due to bombing threats by the Front de libération du Québec and did not resume until it was revived in the 1990s by Défilé du Père Noël, the downtown Montreal business association and is known in French as Défilé du Père Noël. Eaton's also launched a Santa Claus Parade in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1909. Eaton's sold the Winnipeg parade to the Winnipeg Firefighters Club in 1965 and it has continued as a community parade to this day, but is now operated by the Winnipeg Jaycees.
Near demise and revival
Eaton's association with the parade ended in 1982 and almost led to the parade's demise. Metro Chairman Paul Godfrey spearheaded a "Save Our Parade" campaign, and soon after a group of businessmen led by Ron Barbaro and George Cohon, with the help of 20 corporate sponsors, stepped in to save the parade. Cohon retired from the parade organization in 2014. Today the parade is funded by various corporate sponsors (including McDonald's, Canadian Tire, Lowe's, The Walt Disney Company, Toys R Us, Mattel, Sears Canada, and Tim Horton's) which are featured in floats.
Changes
In 1983, the Celebrity Clowns began and remains a tradition of the parade today.
In 2011, the parade route moved its southbound leg from Yonge Street, via Dundas Street West, to Avenue Road, Queen's Park Crescent and University Avenue. Thus ending the tradition of passing the Toronto Eaton Centre, once home to the parade's former sponsor. Eaton Centre, one of many parade sponsors, continues to host the pancake breakfast.
Broadcasting
From 1952 to 1981, CBC Television broadcast the parade. The parade aired on CFRB radio from the 1930s through the 1950s and then on CBC Radio. CHFI-FM is the current radio broadcaster having taken over from CBC Radio in the 1980s.
In 1973, the parade received its first French-language television broadcast on Télé-Métropole. The broadcast was hosted by the puppets from the francophone children's series Nic et Pic.
Global carried the parade in Canada made the feed available in several other countries, including New Zealand, Ireland and Norway, primarily by broadcasters owned by or affiliated with Global's parent company CanWest between 1984 and 2009. The United States network CBS has broadcast the parade since the 1950s as part of its All American Thanksgiving Day Parade coverage during American Thanksgiving, rotating its coverage between the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Hudson's Thanksgiving Parade, Gimbel's Thanksgiving Parade and later the Disneyland Stars Parade.
On April 6, 2010, CTV and parade organizers announced an agreement under which CTV stations nationwide, along with CTV-owned Toronto-based 24-hour news channel CP24, would air live coverage of the parade through 2012. In consequence, the 2010 parade also aired on CTV-owned CHUM-AM 1050, which at the time operated a TV simulcast with CP24.
Closure and access
Streets around the downtown core are closed from approximately 8:00 a.m. through afternoon of parade day. While some parking is available, organizers encourage viewers to take public transit. GO Transit (via Union Station) and Toronto Transit Commission's subway stations provide access to the parade route.