The annual Lights on Rice holiday parade will take place this Friday, Dec. 6, starting at 6:30 p.m., said Eileen Winters, the Rotary Club of Kauai’s parade chairperson.
“We need a big story,” Winters said. “The parade is a go! We have two television stations from Honolulu sending crews to cover the parade. It took them more than 20 years to discover only the biggest event on the island.”
Winters addressed a group of more than a hundred representatives of groups and organizations planning on participating in the annual parade that is a part of day-long activities in Lihue.
Some worried the construction on Rice Street might affect the parade, but the work is expected to be wrapped up and cleared away so spectators can take up their usual places to sit.
The Kauai Museum’s annual Christmas Craft Fair will run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. the same day.
Santa Claus flips the switch illuminating thousands of lights at the lighting of the Festival of Lights ceremony that starts at 6 p.m. on the lawn of the Historic County Building on Rice Street and sets the stage for the start of the colorful parade.
“We have a new Lights on Rice parade cap that should be here in time for the parade,” Winters said. “You can order them through the Rotarians, or go to the website.”
The colorful lighted parade has grown to more than 60 units with about 3,000 people participating from the Vidinha Stadium parking lot staging area to the lawn of the Historic County Building.
Special traffic accommodations will be in effect, as Rice Street from the Ho‘olako Street intersection will be closed through the Haleko Road intersection to accommodate the parade that will feature KQNG Radio Group’s on-air personality Ron Wiley as its grand marshal.
Kukui Grove Center lends its support to the parade by providing a free shuttle bus service that runs continuously starting at 5 p.m. from the First Hawaiian Bank Kukui Grove Branch to the First Hawaiian Bank Lihue Branch. The service continues through the end of the parade, allowing spectators ample time to take in the Kukui Grove’s holiday light spectacular.
Info: Winters, 639-6571, or Eileen@WintersRealty.com
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Source: The Garden Island
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