Plot Synopsis

Each year since 1928 -- except for a three-year hiatus during World War II and for one year in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic -- Hollywood, California has hosted THE HOLLYWOOD CHRISTMAS PARADE on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, featuring stars of film, television and stage, marching bands, equestrian groups, musical acts and Santa Claus. The parade is taped live and later broadcast throughout the month of December, leading up to Christmas. After airing locally in Los Angeles on KTLA and KCOP -- and in national syndication -- NBC brought the parade to a primetime national audience in 2002. The parade went back into syndication on Tribune stations before being unable to secure a television deal in 2008. In 2009, the parade returned to TV with its first-ever, two-hour, national broadcast on MyNetworkTV. The following year, the parade premiered on Hallmark Channel, which was the first network to nationally broadcast the parade through 2014. Since 2015, The CW has premiered the parade during primetime, approximately one week before Hallmark Channel or Hallmark Movies & Mysteries debuts the event. The 2020 Hollywood Christmas Parade was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but The CW premiered "The Hollywood Christmas Parade Greatest Moments," a two-hour retrospective special on Friday, December 4, 2020 from 8-10pm ET/PT.

Recent parades have featured 5,000 participants, traveling along a 3.2-mile U-shaped route through the streets of Hollywood, California. Starting on Hollywood Blvd. at Orange Drive the U-shaped parade route will travel east to Vine, south on Vine St to Sunset Blvd. and west on Sunset Blvd. back to Orange Drive.
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The 2024 Hollywood Christmas Parade premiered as a two-hour special on Saturday, December 14, 2024 from 8-10pm ET/PT on The CW. Hosted by Dean Cain and Laura McKenzie along with Montel Williams and Elizabeth Stanton, the parade features Hollywood celebrities and movie cars, award-wining bands from across the country, dazzling equestrians, larger-than-life character balloons, colorful floats, humorous specialty acts, and high-profile performers. The parade culminates with the appearance of the Jolly Old Elf himself, Santa Claus, and his reindeer, ushering in the holiday season. The event features performances by Terry Fator, Jon Secada, Clay Aiken, Elliott Yamin, Ava Della Pietra, Melinda Lindner, Laura Bryna, and the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles. Celebrities appearing in the 2024 parade include Mario Lopez, Frances Fisher, Oksana Perepadia, Nina Svet, Jennifer Stolo, William Baldwin, Ryan Griffin, Michael Cooper, TLK Fusion, Kym Whitley, Kristos Andrews, Raven Symone, John Schneider & Dee Dee Sorvino Schneider, Nicole Eggert, Deidre Hall, Lou Ferrigno, and more.