In a normal year, the original Toronto Santa Clus Parade would have happened two weeks ago on the third Sunday in November. That has long been the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season, going way back to when it began in 1905.
I remember going as a child when it was called the Eaton’s Santa Claus Parade. It would wind down Yonge Street or University and end at the front door of the department store. That tradition came to an abrupt end when the long-defunct retailer withrew their sponsorship in the early eighties. Others stepped in and expanded and re-invented the parade as a self-sustaining fundraiser.
This year, the question is how do you maintain a giant annual outdoor tradition in the face of a pandemic, especially in a city pretty much shut down as one of the provinces worst COVID hot spots?
For the full answer, listen to Clay Charters, the president and CEO of the Santa Claus Parade and the first guest this week on a special holiday edition of brioux.tv the podcast. Charters explains how his board teamed with Bell/CTV and Canada’s Wonderland and came up with an alternate parade route that ran right through Wonderland’s closed-to-visitors theme park.
His board pretty much starts working on the next parade 48 hours after the last one has ended. Their original plans for 2020 had to be shelved as it became clear anything involving large outdoor gatherings were simply not in the cards.
“While we didn’t have a crystal ball and didn’t know what was going to happen come November,” says Charters, “we knew we had to be prepared. So we got together and started thinking about alternative ways we could still bring the parade to life.”
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CTV and CTV2 will broadcast the two-hour parade Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. ET. It will be a night time parade for a change. Charters explains that this year’s show was shot over a couple of days with 25 floats showcased on one day and then eight hand-picked marching bands filmed another day. Safety measures were enforced both days with band members having to distance as well as mask-up as they marched, except for horn players who masked before and after they played.
There will be some advantages to it not being a “live” TV event. Crews and camera operators had more room to cover the various floats and marching bands.
The parade will still feature “celebrity clowns,” people who volunteer and pay at least $1200 for the privelege of walking the parade route in full costume. This year, just like Santa, they’ll be waving strictly at viewers at home.
The broadcast will also feature Dolly Parton singing a special, pre-taped Christmas song for the parade. Kelly Clarkson and Brett Eldredge, Meghan Trainor, Ruth B., Shaggy ft. CARYS and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will also be featured. Hosting are Melissa Grelo (The Social) and Kelsey McEwen (Your Morning).
The podcast keeps the holiday spirit rolling with an interview with director Dylan Pearce. He talks about the Edmonton-based movie he directed, “Christmas with a Crown,” which premieres Sunday, Dec. 13 on Super Channel Heart & Home. It’s one of 20 new holiday movie premieres on Super Channel this Christmas.
Stick around till the end of the podcast for an interview with the jolly ol’ elf himself, Santa Claus. Just be warned: Santa sounded like he might already be into the egg nog. Ho ho ho!
