Record Setting Christmas Parade in Harrison

Matt Bell said the 2021 Christmas Parade set new records in participation.

The Annual Harrison Christmas Parade was held on Monday evening and according to Matt Bell, Director at the Harrison Convention and Visitors Bureau, it was record turnout for floats.

During an interview on KHOZ’s Around the Table program Tuesday morning Bell said, “We had over 88 entries, multiple vehicles, and we packed it in like sardines down there at the junior high parking lot.” He said that while they don’t keep track of how many entries they have had from year to year this year, “was a record setter for sure.”

The parade started at 7:00 PM but onlookers could be seen setting up along Main Street and around the Historic Harrison Square before 6:00 PM in anticipation of the event that was Grand Marshalled by the Jack Williams Veterans Resource Center. Bell said, “They’ve done a lot of things for the veterans in our community, and they continue to do things for our veterans” He also bragged how many volunteers the CVB has had from Camp Jack to assist in putting up Christmas decorations downtown.

Crowds of people lined the streets as the floats came by decked out in the theme of “Christmas Around The World,” and threw candy to the viewers. The parade featured three local high school marching bands from Valley Springs, Bergman, and Harrison High Schools.

Bell said, “we’re thankful we had great weather. I think that really contributed to the success of it because the past four years we’ve had bone chilling cold weather and last night it was just awesome.”

Bell thanked his team at the CVB for all their work in making the parade a success and said that now they get to take a break. The next event for the CVB isn’t until May of 2022 when “Junkfest” will return to Harrison for it’s second year.

Hometown Television - K26TV Harrison, XL7TV Mt. Home was there to televise and stream the parade. Their full broadcast can be seen here: