Chilliwack Rotary Christmas Parade

The Chilliwack Rotary Christmas Parade is a community event with floats, marching bands and Santa usually held on a Saturday in early December in Chilliwack.

Rotary Christmas Parade in Chilliwack

In 2024, the Chilliwack Rotary Christmas Parade takes place on Saturday, November 30th. The parade starts at 5:30 pm at Chilliwack Secondary School and it’s free to attend.

For those who can’t make it in person, a livestream of the event is hosted on YouTube. The 2024 stream is produced by G.W. Graham Secondary School.

Chilliwack Christmas Parade Route

The parade usually begins on Yale Road between Williams Street and Hazel Street. It goes west along Yale Road, turns right on Wellington, and then right again on College Street. The parade finishes by turning onto Reece Avenue and looping back towards Chilliwack Secondary.

In past years the parade route used to start and end on Spadina Avenue, close to Stanley Street. From Spadina Avenue the parade turned left on Corbould Street and then right on Wellington Avenue. After a while, it turned right on Yale Road, then took an almost immediate right onto Princess Avenue. After following the road for a couple blocks the parade then turned left on Mary Street and finally took a right turn back onto Spadina Avenue.

Event Details

BC Transit usually provides free bus transit on the day of the parade. This was the case again last year. In years when it’s offered, the free transit is available all day so there’s no need to worry about parking or traffic! The free transit service in 2023 applied to all local routes all day on December 2nd. Routes where regular full fares still applied, however, 23re 66 FVX, 71 Agassiz-Harrison and 72 Hope.

Much of the parade route is also closed to vehicle traffic the evening of the event. Those who live inside the parade loop (or are visiting someone who lives inside the loop, are asked to use Reece Avenue to go in and out of the area.

There’s a variety of floats and interesting things to see in the parade. Most (if not all) of the vehicles have Christmas lights, some have other decorations, and some even have live bands playing on them. There are lots of big trucks and a variety of collectible cars as well. As a bonus, some even give out candy!