Street closures and parking restrictions will be in place for Christmas parade

Street closures will be in place for return of city’s Christmas parade featuring Belgian horses

After being paused for the past three years due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the 47th annual Peterborough Santa Claus Parade is making a return Saturday.

The parade will feature about 50 entries this year, organizers say, along with two Belgian horses — the first time in a while the parade has had horses.

The traditional nighttime parade, sponsored by the Kinsmen Club of Peterborough, will begin at 4:45 p.m. from Peterborough City Hall and run down George Street toward Morrow Park, turning right at Princess Street.

The theme of this year’s parade is “Christmas Around The World.”

Staging the parade will mean some street closures and parking restrictions in parts of downtown Peterborough.

Starting at 4 p.m., the following road closures will be in effect, according to the city:

■ Antrim Street — Aylmer Street to Water Street

■ Edinburgh Street — Aylmer Street to Water Street

■ Dublin Street — Aylmer Street to Water Street

■ London Street — Aylmer Street to Water Street

■ McDonnel Street — Aylmer Street to Water Street

■ Murray Street — Aylmer Street to Water Street

■ George Street — Parkhill Road to Brock Street

■ Prince Street — George Street to Park Street

■ Aylmer Street — Lansdowne Street to Romaine Street

The parade will travel south on George Street starting at McDonnel Street and passing in front of City Hall at 4:45 p.m., ending and dispersing at Prince Street.

A rolling road closure, supervised by city police, will be in place along George Street during the parade, according to the city.

Event volunteers will be available to remove barricades to allow for local access for residents and emergency vehicles along side streets, according to the city.

All street closures are expected to be over by 7:30 p.m.

No on-street parking will be permitted temporarily on George Street between Brock and Prince streets starting at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Parking staff will be on-site to help ensure vehicles are relocated, according to the city, but any vehicles still parked on George Street at 3 p.m. will be towed to a nearby lot.

Motorists can park in the King Street Parkade at 202 King St., the Simcoe Street parking garage at 190

Simcoe St. or municipal surface lots at the following locations:

■ Chambers Lot at 184 Hunter St.

■ Reid Lot at 350 Reid St.

■ Surface lot at 365 Aylmer St.

■ Rehill Lot at 210 Wolfe St.

■ Del Crary Lot at 100 George St. N.

■ Downie Lot at 336 Downie St.

Parking in municipal lots and parking garages is free on weekends. Any parking fees that are voluntarily paid during the month of December will be donated to Kawartha Food Share.

The city is asking paradegoers to follow all on-street parking regulations that may be in place in the downtown area, including calendar parking on street sections where applicable.

The city is also asking motorists to not block fire hydrants and driveways.

Starting at 4 p.m., Peterborough Transit will have detours in place for Route 2 Chemong, Route 4 Weller, Route 6 Sherbrooke, Community Bus 22 — Blue and Community Bus 23 — Red.

There is a Peterborough Petes game at the Memorial Centre on Saturday starting at 7:05 p.m. With the Santa Claus Parade affecting traffic in the area, the city is asking fans attending the game to plan for extra travel time when getting to the game.

Paid parking at the Memorial Centre opens at 4 p.m. and the arena doors open at 6 p.m.

With increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic expected, the city is also asking everyone to leave extra time and use caution while travelling in the downtown area on Saturday.