Everything you need to know about this year's 'Light Up Lacombe'

Light Up Lacombe will soon kick off and the City will be filled with holiday cheer. The holiday festival will be happening from November 24th to 27th where you can take in markets, the Echo Energy Santa Claus Parade, performances, and more.

"It's highlighted by Thursday night's big Santa Claus Parade. We turn on the the lights down at the LMC (Lacombe Memorial Centre), which is a gorgeous 60-70 thousand light display. There's all sorts of other ancillary events going on at the same time- food, shopping, you name it. [It's the] kick off to the festive season for us," said Guy Lapointe, Director of Community Services with the City of Lacombe.

This year’s Santa Claus Parade will be happening on Thursday, November 24th at 6:00PM. Santa Claus himself will be heading towards the Lacombe Memorial Centre’s park to light up a grand display.

Several local businesses and organizations will also be taking part in the parade and events. Lapointe estimates around 7,500 people will visit the city for the event.

The parade and fire dancers are typically a hit within the city but lighting the Lacombe Memorial Centre Park is always exciting.

"Everybody down there, shoulder to shoulder and most of the time when you're in a crowded space like that people are anxious to get out of that space, but everybody is just so happy. The community connectivity, the neighborhood is totally on display for people to see and I think it's that connectivity that you see from Lacombians that is really the highlight for me," said Lapointe.

There are a couple of new additions to this year's festival including Scandinavian Paper Crafts at the Mary. C Moore Public Library and Indigenous story telling.

"That [will be on the] the little 'Y' road just next to the Flatiron Building. There will be a big tipi set up there. So, we're looking at trying to tell the stories of Indigenous folks within the community here at this point as well, and promoting diversity,"said Lapointe.

The festival previously called 'Light Up the Night' is now called "Light Up Lacombe" to streamline getting information out to the public at the festival's new website lightuplacombe.ca.

Here’s a look at this year’s parade route: