Magic seems to enter the air during Christmastime in the Castle Country Area. Whether it be the various light displays across the two counties or the charitable efforts of the community, the winter season seemingly makes the area sparkle. A cornerstone event of this magical time is Helper’s Annual Light Parade, which is celebrating its 35th rendition this year.
To speak on the parade and the accompanying events, Mark Montoya from Utah’s Christmas Town spoke with Castle Country Radio.
Montoya and Brenda Deeter have been involved in planning the parade as well as the other events for Utah’s Christmas Town for 26 years, but both have been involved in the tradition for nearly all 35 years. “It just happens, you wake up one day and the next thing you know, it’s like,’ Oh, I have a week to put on a parade and everything else’. But we have lots of events that come up to that parade. But it’s just crazy how time flies.”
One of the events that leads up to the parade is the Christmas Craft Fair, which Montoya spoke highly of,” We have a guy that lives here partially in Helper and he went to the craft fair and he said he went last year and he thought this year was just bigger.” Montoya continued,” He said you could barely move around the tables and everything, which was good for the vendors.”
Another highlight of the buildup to the parade is the Luminary memorial, which will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 4 starting at 6:30 p.m.,” I don’t know how to explain it. You just have to be there to experience it. But you know, what a great time to just take some time out of your day and out of the busy holiday season to remember the loved ones who are no longer with us. And it can get emotional, but there’s just this great sense of community with everybody comforting each other.”
Montoya then spoke on the event that immediately precedes the parade, the chili dinner, which will be held on Friday, Dec. 6, and Saturday, Dec. 7 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Helper Civic Auditorium. “ It’s been a staple of the whole 35 years,” explained Montoya,” it’s just delicious, you know, and we don’t have just chili. There’s kielbasa, nachos, just, and it’s all a la carte, so you don’t have to get something you don’t want.”
Capping off the festivities is the Electric Light Parade on Friday, Dec. 6, and Saturday, Dec. 7 starting at 7 p.m. on Helper’s Historic Main Street. “ It is a huge event. And people don’t realize it because sometimes you are just standing on Main Street and you only see the little area around you. But I’ve driven down the parade route, especially on Saturday night. It’s crazy how many people are just shoulder to shoulder out watching this parade.” He continued,” We had a person that did statistics, and they said over the two nights of the parade, over 8000 people come and see the parade because people come from everywhere.”
In closing, Montoya stated,” Just come out and support us and then have a good time.”
To view a full schedule of events and to see what else Utah’s Christmas Town has to offer, you can visit its website utahschristmastown.com.