CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – For family holiday fun, downtown is the place to be this weekend, with an array of events scheduled Saturday, Dec. 4, building up to the Lighted Christmas Parade.
Activities start at 2 p.m. with SpiritFest at Downtown Commons. This festival, sponsored by First Presbyterian Church and Trinity Episcopal Church, includes ice skating, inflatables, Christmas music, an artists’ sale, rock climbing, animals, a live Nativity, rescue dogs, food trucks and more.
That continues through the lighting of the Montgomery County Christmas tree at Downtown Commons at 4:30 p.m., and then the parade at 5.
The Lighted Christmas Parade, hosted by the City of Clarksville and Montgomery County, will include floats, bands and vehicle displays all decked out with holiday lights.
Clarksville Now reporter and 5 Star Media Group radio personality Lee Erwin will serve as this year’s parade grand marshal. He was selected for his many years of announcing the parade and ongoing support of the Clarksville community, according to a city news release.
With this year’s theme of gingerbread houses, the parade will be 5-7 p.m. in downtown Clarksville.
The parade route will begin on Eighth Street on the Austin Peay State University campus. From Eighth, the parade will progress to College Street and then to University Avenue. From there the route is the same as years past, proceeding around Public Square, the County Courthouse and back to Franklin Street. From Franklin, the route will turn onto Eighth and then return onto the APSU campus.
Clarksville Police will detour traffic to assist with congestion, but anyone driving downtown should prepare for delays, the release said. Starting at noon Saturday, Eighth and other roadways within the APSU campus will be closed to non-parade traffic. Eighth, College, University, Public Square and Franklin will close at 4:45 p.m. and reopen when the parade ends around 7 p.m.
MORE: For all the local Christmas events, check out our Holiday Fun Guide 2021.