Thanksgiving Parade To Have Floats, Performing Dogs, Music

SILVER SPRING, MD — One of the region's most beloved holiday traditions kicks off Saturday, Nov. 23 with the annual Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade.

Set to start at 10 a.m. in downtown Silver Spring, this year's parade will feature more than 100 marching units — including college and high school marching bands, pageant winners, inflatable nutcrackers and snowmen, performing dog and animal rescue groups, and 12-foot holiday floats. WJLA's Brian Van De Graaff and Julie Wright will be emceeing the parade.

As the only Thanksgiving parade in the D.C. metro area, the parade route starts at Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street and proceeds south on Georgia Avenue, ending at Silver Spring Avenue. The parade will be held rain or shine.

Road Closures and Parking Information
Per Thanksgiving parade organizers:

The Northbound and Southbound lanes of Georgia Ave., from East-West Highway to Colesville Road will close at 6 a.m. and reopen at the conclusion of the parade, at approximately 1 p.m. Traffic should detour to East-West Highway.

Free parking will be available in the public garages including the Sligo Ave. Garage, the Cameron Street Garage, and the Bonifant Street Garage next to Metro. The Ellsworth Town Center garage is closed that day beginning at 2 a.m. to accommodate the parade. Attendees are encouraged to take the Metro/Red Line to the Silver Spring station, just west of Georgia Ave.
The following roads will be closed on Saturday, Nov. 23, from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. –

• North and Southbound Georgia Ave. between East-West Highway and Colesville Road.
• Cedar Avenue between Colesville Road and Wayne Ave.
• Pershing Drive from Cedar Ave. to Veterans Place.
• Veterans Place from Pershing to Ellsworth Drive.
• Ellsworth Drive from Georgia to Cedar Ave.
• Roeder Road from Fenton Street to Cedar Ave.
• Fenton St. from Cameron St. to Wayne Ave.
• Wayne Ave. from Georgia Ave. to Fenton Street.
• Bonifant St. from Georgia Ave. to Fenton Street.
• Thayer Ave. from Georgia Ave. to Fenton Street.
• Silver Spring Ave. from Georgia Ave. to Fenton Street.

Volunteering
Per Thanksgiving parade organizers:

The Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade is always looking for volunteers to be elves and pilgrims on floats, reindeer, and penguins in the parade, or to lead balloons.

The parade needs volunteers, age 13 and older, to dress up in costume and ride on the floats, to act as unit leaders, and to be inflatable and balloon handlers. The hours for volunteers are from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (volunteers need to be present the whole time) on Saturday, Nov. 23.

Volunteers meet at the Silver Spring Civic Building at One Veterans Place at Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street. To sign-up visit, https://www.silverspringdowntown.com/montgomery-county-thanksgiving-parade/Volunteering.

Television Broadcast
Per Thanksgiving parade organizers:

Broadcast live at 10 a.m. on NewsChannel 8, the parade will be aired again several times on Thanksgiving Day.

Weather
Saturday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 45, according to forecasters. Rain is likely after 2 p.m. Chance of precipitation: 60 percent.