ADVISORY FROM THE CITY OF GAINESVILLE:
“Due to extreme safety concerns during last year’s event, no candy or handouts of any kind are permitted during the parade portion of Christmas on Green Street.
This was a difficult decision for the Christmas committee to make.
If you weren’t aware, we had over 20,000 attend the parade last year! Police had to completely stop the parade at one point due to crowds of children (and adults) completely closing off the roads because they were underneath vehicles going after candy. This makes people uncomfortable driving in the parade. This also created large gaps in the parade, confusing crowds even further down who thought the parade was over, and created more crowding in the roads. We had little children walking in the parade trying to pass out candy, who were overtaken by crowds and in tears.
We hate to paint this picture, but we hope to make Christmas on Green Street the magical event it has been for decades here in Historic Downtown Gainesville!
We have limited the number of walkers and also added retractable cone bars along the route to create a visible line for the crowds to stay behind during the event.
PLEASE note, there are plenty of free sweet treats and hot cocoa to enjoy prior to the parade at the open houses and activities along Green Street from 2-4pm! One historic home reported last year giving out over 7,000 cups of hot cocoa! 🙂 There is PLENTY of sugary goodness to go around!”