Vineland’s annual Christmas Parade On The Ave did not disappoint.

The weather was a perfect November cold evening, one that made you yearn for some hot chocolate or something to warm you up afterwards. A perfect night for welcoming in the holiday season.
With over 100 parade participants, our crowd was entertained by marching bands, walkers, floats, cars, horses, fire trucks and the true guests of honor—Santa and Mrs. Claus. Lasting about 1-1/2 hours the parade started at 2 nd street down to East Avenue.  Santa, with his magic wand in hand, was raised up to the stings of red and green lights on the Fire Station’s ladder truck and magically lit all of the lights when the children’s count hit the number 3 (1-2-3 and then the magic happened).

If you missed seeing the parade in person, you can watch it still online. Our thanks go out to Vineland
High School and BFA Productions who announces and filmed the events. Both videos are available to
watch at the following URL’s.
VHS: https://www.youtube.com/live/hAvl6DHAH98?si=6gnKjqOVrFJcMEWE
BFA: https://www.youtube.com/live/7vU3Had3Als

Although it was a very competitive battle, we are pleased to announce our float winners for 2024:
GRAND DIVISION:
First Place: R & R Flaim Next Generation Produce & Flaim Farms
Second Place: Dixon’s Dance Academy
Third Place: The Dolores Romero Cancer Foundation

PETITE DIVISION:
First Place: Veterans Memorial School
Second Place: Cumberland County 4-H
Third Place: Johnstone Jaguars Middle School

A parade of this size and magnitude takes a tremendous amount of work and effort all year long. I want to thank our parade chairman, Carl Hemple and all of our staff and volunteers who pour in hours of work for many months to make this go as smooth as possible. And a very heartfelt thank you to all of the great City Department personnel, led by Mayor Fanucci—OEM, Fire & Police Departments, EMS.
Public Works, Engineering, Electric Utility, Health Department, Trash and Recycling.
A huge thank you to the VDID staff and to our many volunteers who work through the cold weather for many many hours to ensure that all goes smoothly. We had over 40 volunteers assist us—from parade captains to announcers and many others. We could not have done it without you.