Home Christmas Events Vancouver and Lower Mainland Santa Claus Christmas Parades

Vancouver and Lower Mainland Santa Claus Christmas Parades

November 17, 2024

Communities across Metro Vancouver and the Lower Mainland host family-friendly Santa Claus parades close to Christmas time to celebrate the holiday season.

This article contains information about the following parades:

Santa Claus Parades in the Lower Mainland

Santa Claus parades are a great way to experience family-friendly fun and get into the holiday spirit. A number of Christmas parades take place in communities across the region. All of them are free to attend and most accept donations for worthy charitable causes.

Christmas parades on Santa’s schedule usually include ones in Vancouver, Surrey, Aldergrove, Maple Ridge, Langley, Bowen Island, Chilliwack, New Westminster and Richmond.

Check out our list of parades below to learn more about each and to find one in or near your community.

Santa and Mrs. Claus in Aldergrove — The Claus Couple in Aldergrove

Christmas Parades in 2025

Winter holiday parades that take place most years are listed below. Many Christmas parades should be happening in 2025, although details for some are still to be confirmed as of early November.

Aldergrove Christmas Light Up Parade

In 2025 the Santa Claus parade in Aldergrove begins at 6:00 pm on Saturday, December 13th. This parade usually features large trucks with lights, tractors and floats.

There is a pre-parade gathering at 4:00 pm as well. It happens at 270th Street and Fraser Highway and includes food, beverages and live entertainment. Santa should be there as well.

Read our Aldergrove Christmas Light Up Parade article for more information.

Chilliwack Rotary Christmas Parade

A Christmas parade takes place on Saturday, November 29th in 2025. It begins at 5:30 pm and loops through downtown Chilliwack. The parade starts and ends near Chilliwack Senior Secondary School, located at 46363 Yale Road.

Click Chilliwack Rotary Christmas Parade for more information.

Light Up Bowen Lantern Festival

The Christmas-themed Light Up community event on Bowen Island happens on Saturday, December 6th, 2025. The festival includes a small parade, carol singing and tree lighting.

Santa Claus arrives at the event by boat, and is sometimes joined by a number of other characters including Rudolph, Frosty, Elsa and Olaf from Frozen, and more. There are fun activities for children and warm cider and mulled wine for the adults.

Click Light Up Bowen for more information.

Maple Ridge Christmas Festival

A free community Christmas event and evening parade takes place at the Memorial Peace Park in Maple Ridge each year. In 2025 the festival is on Saturday, December 6th, and runs from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm.

The Maple Ridge Christmas Festival usually features food trucks, decorations, light displays, market vendors and more. The parade takes place at 6:00 pm. It includes a few floats, a marching band, people on horses, a fire truck and Santa Claus.

Click Maple Ridge Christmas Festival for more information.

Mission Candlelight Parade

The parade takes place along First Avenue and Lougheed Highway in downtown Mission. In 2025 the event begins at 6:00 pm on Saturday, December 6th.

The procession heads west down First Avenue and Lougheed Highway from Horne Street until Haig Street. Dozens of local retailers are usually open late on parade night. There are a number of floats in the parade and awards given out to businesses who put up the best festive displays.

Click Mission Candlelight Parade for additional information.

Steveston Santa Claus Parade

The Steveston Santa Claus Parade in Richmond used to take place on Christmas Eve in Steveston Village from 6:00 pm until about 8:00 pm. The event made its grand return in 2024 after four years of cancellations and took place a few weeks earlier than it had in the past.

The parade isn’t happening in 2025, though Santa will make an appearance on Sunday, December 7th when he arrives by boat at Fisherman’s Wharf at 1:00 pm as part of the Christmas in Steveston Village event. From there, Santa will travel on to the Gulf of Georgia Cannery from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm for children to meet him.

The Steveston Santa Claus Parade used to start at Lord Byng Elementary at 3711 Georgia Street in Richmond. From there it wound its way along a number of streets before making its way to Gary Point Park.

The Christmas in Steveston Village event is free to attend, although donations of cash and non-perishable food to the Richmond Food Bank are greatly appreciated.

Click Steveston Santa Claus Parade for more.

Squamish Holiday Parade

The Squamish Holiday Parade (formerly the Squamish Santa Claus Parade) takes place on Saturday, November 29th in 2025. This parade typically features dozens of floats and other entries along Cleveland Avenue and starts at 5:00 pm in Squamish.

This family-friendly event features carolers and floats decorated by local people and businesses. Exact details for 2025 are to be confirmed, but hopefully as before, people can also visit the Ledge Community Coffee House at 38055 Cleveland Avenue to take photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and enjoy some live music.

See our article about the Squamish Holiday Parade to learn more.

Surrey Santa Parade of Lights

In 2025 this Christmas parade takes place in Cloverdale on the night of Sunday, November 30th. It starts at 5:30 pm.

The origins of the parade were inspired by a soft drink commercial from 1997, and it features a variety of lit-up trucks, cars and other vehicles.

The event is free to attend, although people are encouraged to bring along non-perishable foods or gift items to donate to the Cloverdale Community Kitchen, Surrey Food Bank & the Surrey Christmas Bureau.

Read our Surrey Santa Parade of Lights article for details.

Other Santa Claus Parades

In addition to the above, there used to be parades in Vancouver and New Westminster too. Neither of them has happened for a number of years (and may or may not ever happen again). Details about both of these other events, however, are below.

Vancouver Santa Claus Parade

Note: This parade hasn’t taken place since 2019. We hope to see it return again one year.

The parade in downtown Vancouver was an annual event that attracted hundreds of thousands of people in years with good weather.

In 2019 the parade took place on Sunday, December 1st. Pre-parade activities happened in the plaza outside the Vancouver Art Gallery from 10:00 am until noon. The parade itself started at around 12:00 pm and went along Georgia and Howe Streets. People were invited to bring a donation for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, but the event itself was free.

See our article about the Vancouver Santa Claus Parade for more information about this event.

New Westminster Santa Claus Parade

Note: This parade hasn’t taken place since 2019.

In years past, the New Westminster Santa Claus parade ran along Columbia Street between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm from start to finish. The parade ran for only a few blocks, from around Fourth Street until Eighth, and lasted for about 45 minutes. The festivities typically included marching bands, politicians waving from cars, decorated floats and Santa Claus.

Check out our New Westminster Santa Claus Parade page for more information on what the event used to look like.