In pictures: Halifax’s 30th annual Holiday Parade of Lights

The Holiday Parade of Lights took over the streets of downtown Halifax last Saturday night. Winding from Cogswell Street, then down Barrington Street, the parade drew a crowd numbering in the thousands.

In a statement, Feed Nova Scotia reported that attendees donated 747 kilograms of food and nonperishable item donations. Nova Scotia Power, the sponsor for the event, will match the collected cash donations up to $10,000. The total cash donations to Feed Nova Scotia are not currently available.

Erin Hopkins, the co-host of radio station Move 100’s Erin & Peter, rode atop the float On-air, collecting toys along the way.

In the days leading up to the parade, Hopkins promoted the toy drive on the morning radio show — she says listeners delivered. 

“This was the best crowd we’ve ever seen,” said Hopkins. “We are very thankful to Halifax for being so generous.”

Crowds at the parade saw two Grinch mascots this year — one of them was 12-year-old Ethan Timock.

“It was so much fun,” Timock said. “I was jumping around and doing a whole bunch of moves.”

Timock told The Signal he enjoyed interacting with kids in the crowd and plans to return to the parade next year in a different costume.

Greg Blackmore, who walked with the Hal-Con Sci-Fi & Fantasy Community Squad, returned to the parade for his third consecutive year. Blackmore — better known to holiday revelers as the Grinch — told The Signal he appreciates the volunteer opportunities Hal-Con provides.

“We love helping people,” Blackmore said. “It feels good to see people smile and laugh.”

Halifax Pride presented drag artists Penny Cillin, Hanna Banana and Randie E. Rogenous. During the parade, the trio was singing, dancing and representing the 2SLGTBQI+ community from the Pride float.

“It means a lot for children to see representation of queer and trans folk and to see us having fun,” Randie E. Rogenous said.

“And to show that we’re not scary because we’re really pretty,” Hanna Banana said.

“We didn’t get that representation growing up, so it feels good to bring it to a new generation,” Penny Cillin said.

It was Mary Lynn and Diane Blanchard’s first time attending the Halifax Parade of Lights. The couple stood in the crowd, dressed as snowpeople, to show their appreciation of the participants.

“Everyone should dress up,” Diane said.

The Blanchards told The Signal they brought bags of toys, activities for teenagers and food donations for the food drive.