Best "Christmas Parades" or towns to visit during Holidays (Los Angeles: houses, living)

[family first]

Hey folks, looking for some input as to where to take the young kids this "Season" to see either small town parades or where the towns have really done up decorations for the Holidays. It would have to be in the following counties as I'm up in the foothills: Calaveras, Tuolumne, Amador, El Dorado or close to these areas. Wishing all us Americans The Best this Thanksgiving and Christmas (forget the political correctness routines)!!

[Roma]

I don't know anything about the Foothills but I can recommend some in or around Ventura County where I used to live.

1) Solvang. It's in Santa Barbara county. It's great to visit Solvang year round but especially during Christmas. You could do a weekend trip and stay over and the following day take your kids to the Santa Barbara Zoo. http://www.beachcalifornia.com/calif...as-events.html

2) Channel Islands Harbor Christmas Parade of Lights. It's in Ventura County. You could also do a couple days stay here and it's right next to the beach (I used to live on this beach). Anywhere that there is a harbor with homes on it you can usually find a Christmas parade of lights. http://www.channelislandsharbor.org/events.cfm

3) Candy Cane Lane in the Valley...It's in Los Angeles County. If you want to see houses decorated for Christmas this is a must see....C’mon Everyone! Time To Visit Candy Cane Lane! | LA.CityZine.com - Los Angeles

4) Disneyland in Orange County for the Christmas Parade. I'm sure Disneyland would probably be a hit with your kids. I was there one year on Christmas day. It was very festive.

So there are some suggestions for 4 different Counties.

[humboldtrat]

Amador City, California, Amador County Travel Guide for CA Visitors to CA Gold Country

[JetJockey]

If you want small town old fashioned stuff, Paso Robles is great. They have the Vine Street 'parade' where you can walk around and see all of the old original victorian houses decorated for Christmas. There's hot cider and hot chocolate along with all kinds of vendors. Plus, a couple of the houses do plays and whatnot. There's always one who does 'The Christmas Carol' and it's absolutely amazing

[DMenscha]

heheheh you could come to our parade in Mountain Ranch. It's small and hokey, but our Santa Claus is the real deal and there's hot chocolate and goodies for the kids and hot buttered rum for the adults on my porch. December 20th at 1:00. Our town Christmas tree is nice too!

[Inthesierras]

Up north in Susanville is a great light parade on Dec 6th. Santa is on a little flatbed trailer being pulled by 7 quads decked out in Christmas lights. The front quad has its headlight covered in red, like Rudolph. There are alot of other floats, people walking, people pulling fake cows on wheels, etc in the parade. At the end of the parade is the tree lighting, then firework. The fireworks are followed by hot cocoa and refreshments from the downtown merchants. There is also caroling, dance performances, etc. It is packed, it seems like the whole town shows up.

[CA central coast]

Originally Posted by JetJockey

If you want small town old fashioned stuff, Paso Robles is great. They have the Vine Street 'parade' where you can walk around and see all of the old original victorian houses decorated for Christmas. There's hot cider and hot chocolate along with all kinds of vendors. Plus, a couple of the houses do plays and whatnot. There's always one who does 'The Christmas Carol' and it's absolutely amazing

The Vine St. area is nice, beautiful old victorians. But that parade? It's so packed with people on that street that to me it's not fun. You can hardly walk around. Back in the day, you could actually look inside the houses, take tours. Today, it has become such a big event, it has gotten out of hand. IMO

[JetJockey]

Originally Posted by CA central coast

The Vine St. area is nice, beautiful old victorians. But that parade? It's so packed with people on that street that to me it's not fun. You can hardly walk around. Back in the day, you could actually look inside the houses, take tours. Today, it has become such a big event, it has gotten out of hand. IMO

Agreed. We just do the walk at night down Vine, usually it's much less crowded. Much simpler Although..most things in paso are crowded and uncomfortable, I prefer to stay away from that city if I possibly can.

[FresnoFacts]

These are outside the original posters list of counties, but a few ideas in the Central Valley and nearby Sierras.

Fresno's Christmas Tree Lane on Van Ness Avenue is one of the oldest in the West, lighting trees for 86 years. It is 2 miles with over 300 deodar cedars covered in lights.
Christmas Tree Lane
FGHA - Christmas Tree Lane
Here is a short video that gives a little bit of how it looks.
FresnoBee.com: Multimedia: Christmas Tree Lane

Also in Fresno is Candlelight Christmas on Huntington Blvd. It features the tallest living lighted Christmas tree, a redwood covered in electric lights since 1918.

Then all the Fresno area museums will be decorated for the holidays with events for adults and children.

In nearby Old Town Clovis on December 6 at 6:30pm will be the Childrens Electric Parade. It features lots of lighted floats.

And don't forget the Nation's Christmas Tree ceremonies in Kings Canyon National Park. The General Grant sequoia tree was given the designation in 1926. Every year on the second Sunday of December ceremonies are held at the foot of the tree. People trek to the park to sing carols and lay a wreath.
General Grant - Our Nation's Christmas Tree

[hanna_house]

Yesterday there was the Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon, and that was a good size with lots of D List celebs and whatnot (my favorite kind).

A couple others I've heard about in the San Diego ares are Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade (aka "America’s Largest Balloon Parade") and the San Diego Bay Parade of Lights

There seem to be quite a few good events in the area, but the one I am planning to go to next is Balboa Park December Nights, on Dec. 5th & 6th. Should be fun!