Toronto Santa Claus Parade

Toronto Santa Claus Parade
A float in the 2009 Parade
Created by	Eaton's
Starring	Ken Shaw and Melissa Grelo 2010-present - CFTO-DT/CP24 Rosey Edeh (2009) and Leslie Roberts 2005-2009 - Global Toronto Faye Dance, Sandy Hoyt (1985-1997) and Susan Hay (1990s until 2008) - Global Toronto
Country of origin	Canada
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	111 (as of November 15th, 2015)
Production
Location(s)	Downtown Toronto from Christie Pits along Bloor Street West, south on Avenue Road/Queen's Park Crescent/University Avenue to Front Street West, east along Front to St. Lawrence Market
Running time	3 Hours (with commercials)
Production company(s)	Eaton's 1905-1977 various corporate sponsors 1982-present CTV (media since 2010)
Release
Original network	Television: CTV 2010-present Global 1982-2009 CBC 1952-1981 (rebroadcast on CBS) Radio: CFRB 1930s to 1950s CBC Radio 1950s to 1980s CHFI-FM 1980s-present
Original release	1952 – present
External links
Website

The Toronto Santa Claus Parade is a Santa Claus parade held annually on the third Sunday of November in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The latest parade was held on Sunday, November 20, 2016. More than a half million people attend the parade every year. The televised parade, broadcast nationwide on the CTV Television Network, starts at around 4pm and runs about an hour and a half. It now has over 25 floats, 20-25 bands and 1,700 participants. The parade route is almost 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) long. It is one of the biggest parade productions in North America.

The Toronto Santa Claus Parade was first held on December 2, 1905 with just a single float. Sponsored by the Eaton's chain of department stores, Santa was collected at Union Station, and delivered to the downtown Toronto Eaton's store.

The parade grew in size each year and attracted large crowds. For the 1913 parade, Eaton's brought in reindeer from Labrador to pull Santa's sleigh.

Beginning in 1947, a recurring character, Punkinhead, was seen each year in the parade. Punkinhead was a character in a series of storybooks sold by Eaton's.

By the 1950s the Toronto parade was the largest Santa Claus parade in North America, and it is now one of the oldest annual parades in the world. Eaton's continued to pay for the paraded, which was used to promote its retail business. The company's Merchandise Display Department worked year-round at Eaton's Sheppard and Highway 400 service building to make costumes and build floats and mechanized window tableaux.

From 1925 until the late 1960s the floats from the parade were reused in Montreal where Eaton's had been holding Santa Claus Parades since 1909. This arrangement was cancelled due in 1969 due to bombing threats by the Front de libération du Québec and did not resume until it was revived in the 1990s by Défilé du Père Noël, the downtown Montreal business association and is known in French as Défilé du Père Noël. Eaton's also launched a Santa Claus Parade in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1909. Eaton's sold the Winnipeg parade to the Winnipeg Firefighters Club in 1965 and it has continued as a community parade to this day, but is now operated by the Winnipeg Jaycees.