The Festival of Lights will officially start at 6:30pm on November 23rd when the Parade of Lights floats glide along East Peoria streets. With a theme of 40 Floats for 40 Years, the Parade of Lights will start at East Washington Street and Dolans Lane. It will continue along Washington Street, turning left at the intersection with Camp Street. The floats will turn right from Washington onto Taylor Street and continue along Taylor in front of Central Junior High School, ending at Taylor Street and Springfield Road at the U.S. Post Office.

This year’s parade features 40 floats which include two new ones. In February festival organizers asked people to fill out a survey with their float ideas. From the top responses, two new floats have been made, one being a replica of the Festival lighted wreath. As far as the other new float, organizers are keeping it a surprise for the parade.

Those wanting to watch from the comfort of home can view it broadcast live exclusively on WMBD-TV and streaming live on CIPROUD.com as well as the East Peoria Festival of Lights Facebook page.

Parade Street Closures
Springfield Road will be closed to all traffic from its intersection with Taylor Street to North Main Street from 5:45pm Saturday, Nov. 23 until 4pm Monday, Nov. 25. Access will be open to the CVS Pharmacy and Long John Silver’s/A&W restaurants located at Springfield Road and North Main Street. The closure is necessary for parking of parade floats prior to moving them to the Folepi’s Winter Wonderland drive-through display.

Taylor Street and the roads along the Washington Street route of the Parade of Lights will begin closing at 6:15pm and be completely closed to traffic at 6:30pm Saturday, Nov. 23. 

Parade Spectator Parking
Parade spectator parking will be available at the Festival Building, 2200 E. Washington St.; East Peoria Community High School, 1401 E. Washington St.; Fon du Lac Park District Administration Building near the intersection of Washington Street and Veterans Drive; and Central Junior High School on Taylor Street.

Spectators who park at the junior high school and anywhere along Taylor Street will need to have their vehicles remain parked until the Santa Claus float has passed by, marking the end of the parade.

Handicapped parking will be available along Taylor Street in areas designated with handicap signage. Vehicles must have a handicapped sticker, license plate, or dash card. Overnight parking will be permitted if vehicles are properly tagged. A limited number of handicapped parking spots are available.

A downloadable map of the parade route is available on folepi.org. 

Six days after the parade, the floats can be viewed from the warmth of individual vehicles at the Folepi’s Winter Wonderland drive-through display which opens Friday night, Nov. 29 and runs nightly through Jan. 5.

For more information, visit folepi.org, or find East Peoria Festival of Lights on Facebook, Instagram, and the X platform formerly known as Twitter.