Christmas parade, Holiday Forest
among top winter events
09/29/04
By Keith Lawrence
Messenger-Inquirer
The Kentucky Tourism Council has named two Owensboro celebrations among its Top
10 winter/holiday events across the state.
Taking the honors were the 67-year-old downtown Owensboro Christmas Parade,
which bills itself as the state's largest, and the 27-year-old Holiday Forest at
the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art.
A state panel of judges chose the events based on their popularity, impact on
the local tourism economy and their cultural and historical significance, the
council said.
The Christmas parade dates back to Dec. 2, 1937. Last year, it drew an estimated
10,000 spectators and included 112 entries. Fifty-five of them were floats.
Organizers say that only Louisville's Pegasus Parade during the Kentucky Derby
week is larger.
This year's parade is scheduled for Nov. 20. The theme is "Christmas in
Toyland."
Christmas trees -- decorated by artists, florists, civic and school groups --
are the centerpieces of the Holiday Forest, which attracts between 4,000 and
5,000 children plus a large number of adults each year.
The theme of this year's Nov. 21-Dec. 31 event is "A Frontier Christmas."
Holiday Forest was canceled last year because the museum was being renovated
after a June 2003 fire.
Earlier this year, the Kentucky Tourism Council named Friday After 5 to its Top
10 summer events.