Heading to Charlotte’s Thanksgiving Eve parade? Here’s what spectators need to know
Charlotte’s first Thanksgiving Eve version of its annual holiday parade in recent memory is set to kick off Wednesday along Tryon Street in uptown.
Here’s what spectators and drivers need to know about the 75th version of what’s now known as the Novant Health Thanksgiving Parade:
When and where: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 24, on Tryon Street in uptown Charlotte, from 9th Street to MLK Jr. Boulevard.
It will be cold. Predicted temperatures dropped a couple degrees from what the National Weather Service expected last week for a chilly parade start time of 6 p.m.
The temperature is now forecast to be 44 degrees under mostly clear skies when the parade begins, following an expected afternoon high of 53, according to the NWS forecast at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Temperatures should quickly fall even further, to about 40 degrees an hour into the parade and into the high 30s by 9 p.m., according to the NWS.
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Reserved seating all gobbled up. Reserved curbside seating toward the end of the parade route is sold out. Watch the parade for free anywhere along the route. Arrive early to secure a spot, organizers recommend.
Watch on TV: WBTV will broadcast the parade live at 6 p.m. Wednesday and air rebroadcasts on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas morning.
Traffic and parking
Street closures: Expect a dozen stretches of uptown streets to be closed in preparation for the parade. A couple of the closures began Monday night, while most started after rush hour Tuesday night, according to the Charlotte Department of Transportation.
Parts of Tryon Street have been or will be closed, while Levine Avenue of the Arts and 10th Street will be closed between Church and Tryon streets. 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th and 4th streets will close between between College and Church streets.
Most of the streets will reopen late on Thanksgiving night, while Tryon Street between Stonewall Street and MLK Jr. Boulevard and between 9th Street and 11th Street are scheduled to reopen at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Where to park. Several parking decks are available along the route. Parade organizers recommend parking at the free 7th Street Station CATS Lynx light-rail location at 260 E. 7th St. and walking the two blocks to Tryon Street.
Food and COVID safety
Food and beverages. Various Tryon Street vendors will sell food and hot and cold drinks.
COVID-19 precautions: Spectators are strongly encouraged to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status, and to practice social distancing where possible, organizers said.
History of uptown Charlotte event
Night parades once the norm: The parade debuted the night before Thanksgiving in 1947, the brainchild of the late Charlotte Observer promotions director Earl Crawford, the newspaper reported in 2015. He envisioned the parade as a way to show off Charlotte, while merchants he huddled with saw the parade promoting downtown Christmas shopping.
The Carolinas’ Carrousel parade, its name for decades, switched to Thanksgiving night in 1950, according to the article, and to Thanksgiving morning in 1968. Since then, the parade has been held mid-afternoon or mornings on Thanksgiving.
In October, Novant Health announced that the health care provider has extended its title sponsorship of the parade another five years.
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 4:00 PM.