Children's Christmas Parade

The Children's Christmas Parade is a major Christmas parade held to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Beginning in 1981 with Egleston Children’s Hospital (which later merged with Scottish Rite Children's Hospital), it is held on the first Saturday in December, which is also the second weekend after Thanksgiving. 2011 Nielsen estimates of TV viewing audience and crowd attendance together exceeds 500,000. With floats, giant helium-filled balloons and marching bands, the Children's Christmas Parade is the largest holiday parade in the Southeast. The parade is free to the public, but bleacher seats can be purchased on the CHoA website.

It is aired live from 10:30 AM EST until noon on WSB-TV 2.1 in HDTV, previously after a half-hour pre-show (until 2010) about the children at the hospital. It is re-run again on Christmas Day. Parade sponsors include Wells Fargo, Macy's, Geico, Coca-Cola, SunTrust, Fidelity Bank, Georgia's Own Credit Union, Aarons, Publix, KidsRKids, Ringling Bros, Atlanta Peach Movers, Foresters Insurance, and Southwest Airlines. In its earliest years, it was sponsored by Davison's, one of the two major regional department stores based in Atlanta until they were eliminated by Macy's.