Franklin Christmas Parade 2026

What it is

Floats, bands and Santa through downtown on the Saturday after the tree lighting. Walkers beside the floats hand out candy; nobody throws it. The 2026 route runs the opposite way to recent years: it starts at 11th Avenue and West Main, comes east along Main to the Public Square, turns north on 3rd Avenue North to Bridge Street, then runs west on Bridge Street and Highway 96 to finish on New Highway 96 West.

When it runs

Saturday at 1 p.m. The streets on the route close at 11:45 a.m., the Rotary club’s rules say; the city’s calendar says noon, and it still links the old route map.

Where to park

No spectator parking is published. The city’s garages on 2nd and 4th Avenue South are the nearest public parking to the Square.

What it costs

Free to watch.

If it rains

Rain or shine.

The history

The parade began informally in the mid-1960s, the Williamson Herald reported. The Franklin Chamber of Commerce took it on around 1975 and the Kiwanis Club ran it by the 1990s; when Kiwanis dissolved after the 2022 parade, the Downtown Franklin Rotary Club took over.

Open spaces in the garages, now →