Fantasy In Lights Parade Gets Rerouted For 2023
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WHEELING -- Street construction work throughout downtown Wheeling now has forced the rerouting of the annual Main Street Bank Fantasy in Lights Christmas Parade -- bringing it into the Centre Market area this year.
The event, organized by the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce -- is set to take place just after 6 p.m. on Nov. 17.
Details are still being finalized, but Bill Bryson -- the chamber's parade chair -- said the staging area remains the same as units will line up along Market Street between 20th and 23rd streets. But from there, instead of proceeding north, the parade will move south along Market Street through Centre Market.
A meeting will be held this week to determine the final route, and Bryson said the route will likely make a turn from Market Street to Main Street at either the 24th or 26th street intersections.
The parade will then move north on Main Street, making its way to the location of parade sponsor Main Street Bank before making a right at the 20th Street intersection to conclude the route.
The parade will be about seven-tenths of a mile, according to Bryson.
"It should be a straight shot down Main Street -- flat, and no hills," he said. "Hopefully, this is only a one-year shot.
"This year we can't go past 20th street. We have to stay south of 20th Street."
Another hurdle for the parade was that the Market Street Bridge remains closed, and is "not available" this year.
Typically, the chamber and the city collaborate to hang snowflake decorations throughout the downtown.
But Bryson isn't certain yet these will be hung as usual or placed elsewhere.
"That's someone else's call," he said.
The decision on who will be grand marshal also has yet to be decided, according to Bryson. The chambers "teachers of the year" will be a part of the parade.
"We're five weeks out, and we're still struggling," he said.
Bryson has been organizing the parade for 38 years, and he expects there still will be more changes and more decisions made regarding the parade.
"This is number 38 for me, and the last four have been kind of strange," he said. "In 2020, there was no parade. In 2021, there were still the remnants of COVID and we only had about five bands. Last year, we were close to the number of entrants we usually have, but we still had to change the parade route."
He is looking forward to next year.
"We'll have newly paved roads, and a fresh start in 2024," Bryson said.