Christmas Parade returns to Downtown Bend Saturday, Mistletoe Miler before parade
Matthew Draxton
BEND, Ore (KTVZ) — The annual Christmas Parade is returning to the streets of downtown Bend, this Saturday, December 5th at noon.
Cascade Relays is producing the annual festivity for the first time. CEO and founder, Scott Douglass, said, “our north star of the Christmas Parade is and always remains putting smiles on the faces of the children of Bend.”
The annual Downtown Bend Christmas Parade is a staple of the holiday season, taking place every year for over 50 years.
Douglass said attendees should expect participants to include anyone, “from the fire department and the police department that are going to be in the parade all the way down to to local dog goups that wants to march in the parade with their frenchies.”
The goal of the annual festivities? To celebrate the community coming together.
The Grand Marshall of the 2025 Downtown Bend Christmas Parade is RL Garrigus. Folks selected to be the Grand Marshall are those who’ve had widespread impact in the community.
Speaking on previous Grand Marshall’s Garrigus said they are, “really great people that have lived within the community, been a part of the community for many, many years. It’s a great honor.”
This year, the theme of the event is a Storybook Christmas, wrapping themes from all your favorite holiday tales.
Douglass recommends attendees get out by 10am Saturday to secure their spots.
“Right there on wall street is such a beautiful place to watch the parade from. We’ll have our announcers stand right there at the intersection of Minnesota and Wall Street.
In addition, with this being Cascade Relay’s first year producing the parade, they will be introducing a new and exciting race happening the same day prior to the parade, the Mistletoe Miler. The three mile fun run and walk will stretch along Deschutes River Train, starting and finishing at Bend Brewing Co. in Downtown. There will be mistletoe moments, holiday cheer and photo ops, all happening at 9:30am.
The KTVZ News Team will also be participating in the parade, so feel free to say hello!