BANGOR, Maine — Holiday parades in Bangor and Ellsworth have been cancelled because of icy weather forecast for Saturday.
Neither parade has been rescheduled.
“We’re just not going to do one this year and I’m so sorry. People have put so much work into the floats and everything,” Barbara McDade, co-chairman of the Rotary Club of Bangor’s Festival of Lights parade committee, said late Friday afternoon.
“It’s just so much work to put on a parade that we couldn’t figure out how to have it at another time,” she said.
With freezing rain and sleet anticipated for much of the state through the afternoon and into the evening Saturday, “We were just afraid of floats skidding into the crowd or off the road,” McDade said. “We could deal with snow, but with the rain?”
McDade said this year’s holiday parade was the first ever she can recall being canceled due to weather.
“In fact, everything I sent out said rain or shine, we’re going to have the parade,” she said.
The Rotary Club posted the following on it’s Facebook page:
“Regretfully, after much consideration and discussion with local safety officials, Rotary Club of Bangor has decided to CANCEL Saturday’s (tomorrow’s) Festival of Lights holiday parade in downtown Bangor. A forecast predicting rain, combined with freezing rain and possible icy road conditions, led organizers to put safety first and cancel the event.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and we appreciate the support of all those who had planned to be a part of this annual holiday tradition.
“We will see you in 2015!”
Also canceled was the Santa’s Workshop event planned for Saturday, according to the Downtown Bangor Partnership.
The annual tree lighting, however, has been rescheduled for Dec. 10,
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory Friday, indicating that precipitation was expected to start as snow Friday night then change to sleet and freezing snow by Saturday morning, creating hazardous driving conditions.
Affected areas include York, Cumberland, Oxford, Franklin, Somerset, Androscoggin, Kennebec, interior Hancock, Washington, Piscataquis and Penobscot counties.