WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- The City of Wilkes-Barre is hosting its annual Christmas parade this weekend.
It steps off on South Main Street at 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 23, 2019.
A tree lighting ceremony on Public Square follows the parade. Kids' activities are also planned in the morning.
We try to decorate the week before, you know so everything is ready and prep-wise with food it's doable," said Dominic Buonsante of Dino's Pizza Express, adding that the day of the parade is always a good one for his pizza shop.
"We plan on selling a lot of pizza. You know the Santa event is always a great turnout, and I think that Saturday is going to be a nice day, so we are expecting a good day."
Businesses downtown tell Newswatch 16 it's nice to see signs of the holiday spirit popping up all over the city.
"It's really neat to be down here now and to see how much it's grown and to see it start getting into the holiday spirit," said Christian Pilosi. "All the businesses are starting to do designs on their windows. We didn't decorate yet, but I started purchasing some new stuff. We're going to have it all done up, and we're really excited to decorate this space for the first time for the holidays too."
Pilosi runs Eden A Vegan Café. He's used to the Santa Parade in Scranton near his other location, but is thrilled to experience the holidays now in Wilkes-Barre, too.
"We've been in Scranton for 11 years, and we always get excited when they come to town, and Christmas begins with that parade, but here we're actually right along the route, we're so glad to be down here. This is our seventh week down here, and the city and the community has been wonderful to us."
In addition to the parade on Saturday, there will be activities for families on South Main Street beginning at 11:30 a.m.
For more information on the Wilkes-Barre parade, click here.