BANGOR, Maine — The Festival of Lights parade and a holiday tree lighting drew more than 15,000 people to downtown Saturday, event organizers said.
The parade included 62 floats as it rolled along Harlow, Central, Main and Union streets before ending in front of Davenport Park next to Cedar Street. Organizer Roland Narofsky sounded pleased to note that this year’s parade was blessed by clear skies and only a slight chill in the air.
The annual celebration “is definitely growing. We have been working toward creating more of an event, not just a parade,” Narofsky, chairman of the parade committee of the Rotary Club of Bangor, said. The club organized the event and hosted the event with WABI-TV Channel 5.
This year’s parade featured new additions, including three warming and restroom stations and security provided by criminal justice students at Eastern Maine Community College, Narofsky said.
Dustin Gray, 28, of Orrington was pretty sure that his daughter, 2-year-old Khloe Gray, had the best seat along the route,his shoulders. She did seem captivated by the parade, when she wasn’t smacking her dad’s face or tugging on his beard.
“She seems to like it up there,” Gray said. “She’s been quiet the whole time.”