Toronto Santa Claus Parade - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Toronto Santa Claus Parade is a Santa Claus parade

Santa Claus parade

Santa Claus parades or Christmas pageants are parades held in some countries to celebrate the official opening of the Christmas season with the arrival of Santa Claus....

held annually in mid-November in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. More than a half million people attend the parade every year. The parade starts at 12:30pm and ends approximately 3:30pm. Televsion coverage begins at 1:30pm and re-broadcasts again after 4pm following the end of the parade.

History

The Toronto Santa Claus Parade was started on December 2, 1905 by the Eaton's

Eaton's

The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...

chain of department stores, with just a single float. It now has over 25 floats, 24 bands, and 1,700 participants. The parade is almost 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) long and can be seen anywhere along this route. It is one of the biggest productions in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

and the oldest annual parade in the world.

From 1925 to the 1970s, the floats from the parade were reused in Montreal. This arrangement was cancelled due to the FLQ Crisis.

Near demise and revival

Eaton's association with the parade ended in 1982 and almost led to the parade's demise. Businessmen led by George Cohon

George Cohon

George A. Cohon, is an American-born Canadian businessman who is the founder and senior chairman of McDonald's of Canada and McDonald's of Russia....

(of McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

Restaurants of Canada) and 20 corporate sponsors stepped in to save the parade. Cohon remains co-chair of the parade organization. Today the parade is funded by various corporate sponsors (including McDonalds, Canadian Tire

Canadian Tire

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is one of Canada's 60 largest publicly traded companies. The firm operates an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retailing hardgoods, apparel and petroleum as well as financial and automotive services, employing more than 58,000 people across Canada...

, Lowes, Sears Canada

Sears Canada

Sears Canada Inc. is a retailer, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, that operates in all provinces and territories across Canada with a network of 196 corporate stores, 195 dealer stores, 38 home improvement showrooms, 108 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and...

, and Tim Horton's) that are featured in the floats.

Changes

In 1983 the Celebrity Clowns began and remains a tradition of the parade today.

In 2011, the parade did not pass down Yonge Street

Yonge Street

Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...

(via Dundas Street West), ending the tradition of passing by the Toronto Eaton Centre

Toronto Eaton Centre

The Toronto Eaton Centre is a large shopping mall and office complex in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, named after the now-defunct Eaton's department store chain that once anchored it. In terms of the number of visitors, the shopping mall is Toronto's top tourist attraction, with around one...

, once home to the parade's former sponsor. The pancake breakfast continues to be held at the Eaton Centre, which is one of several corporate sponsors.

Broadcasting

On April 6, 2010, It was announced that a new deal was reached that would see CTV

CTV television network

CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...

stations nation-wide, along with CTV-owned Toronto-based 24-hour news channel CP24, would air live coverage of the parade for three years, going to 2012.

CP24 will air the parade live from 1:30 - 3:30 pm, CTV stations in Ontario and Quebec will air the parade at 4:30 pm. CTV stations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia will air the parade at 4:00 pm, and CTV-owned CTV Two Atlantic will air the parade at 5:00 pm.

Previously, the parade was carried in Canada by Global Television

Global Television Network

Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...

, and broadcast to several other countries, including New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

and Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, primarily by broadcasters owned by or affiliated with Global's parent company CanWest from 1984-2009. From 1952 to 1983 the parade was broadcasted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

TV. The parade has been heard on radio from CFRB (1930s-1950s) to and CBC Radio

CBC Radio

CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...

(beginning 1950s) to CHFI-FM

CHFI-FM

CHFI-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts an adult contemporary format at 98.1 on the FM dial in Toronto, Ontario. Like most Toronto radio and TV channels, it broadcasts atop the CN Tower with and ERP of 44 kW and has a sizeable amount of American listeners...

(current broadcaster) as alternatives to live television coverage.

It was also carried in the United States by CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

for many years as part of its All American Thanksgiving Day Parade coverage, since it coincided with American Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving (United States)

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...

.

Between 1989 to 1991 the parade was broadcasted to the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. Today the parade is shown through Canada and as far as New Zealand

New Zealand

, Norway

Norway

and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

Closure and access

Streets around the downtown core are shut down from morning to afternoon of the day of the parade. While some parking is available, organizers encourage the public to take public transit. GO Transit

GO Transit

GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...

(via Union Station) and Toronto Transit Commission

Toronto Transit Commission

-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...

's subway stations provide access to the parade route.

External links

Multimedia

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.