Ukrop’s Christmas Parade: The whens, the wheres, and more

Headed out to the Ukrop’s Christmas Parade on Saturday? Find out parade details, where (and where NOT) to park, what you can bring, and where you should chow down once it’s over.

December 3, 2009; 9:37 AM • by Valerie Catrow

Twenty-six. That’s how old the Richmond Christmas Parade is. Crazy. In fact, I’d wager a small fortune that the parade is actually older than some of you, giving you even more of a reason to go and pay your respects.

We’ve pulled together a few handy resources that will hopefully make navigating the parade and all its hoopla a little bit easier. Enjoy!

Basic details

The parade will take off from the Science of Museum of Virginia (2500 W. Broad Street) at 10am on Saturday, December 5 and continue downtown about three miles to 7th Street. Here’s PDF of the parade route, courtesy of the Richmond Christmas Parade. And here’s a PDF of the float lineup for you as well.

Parking

There is no designated parking for the parade, but you are free to park on any side street along the parade route or in the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control lot next to the Science Museum. The parade officials ask that you please do not park in the other lots at the Science Museum or the Children’s Museum unless you plan on paying them a visit.

Road closings

• East and West bound lanes on Broad Street between Strawberry and Davis Streets will be closed from 5am to 2pm.
• All of DMV Drive and Leigh Street between Hermitage and the Boulevard will be closed from 7am to 2pm.
• 7th Street between Jackson and Broad will be closed from 9am to 1pm.
• The west bound side of Broad Street from 8th to Robinson will be closed from 9am to 1pm.

What to bring

The parade is free, but they will be taking monetary and food donations to benefit the Central Virginia Foodbank. The foodbank is always in need of:

• Canned chicken and ham
• Canned tuna and salmon
• Peanut butter
• Canned vegetables
• Canned fruit
• Spaghetti sauce
• Hot and cold cereals
• Pasta and rice

Or you’re not up to bringing cash or cans to the parade, you can always get into the spirit of things by donating online at anytime. Remember, $1 equals five meals.

Post-parade snacking

If you’re looking to take everyone out for a bite to eat after the parade, here are few spots that are close to various spots on the parade route and sure to please all the members of your party. (Keep in mind, these are just suggestions. Stop by our Eats Directory for more ideas.)

The Fan

• City Dogs
• Garnett’s
• Joe’s Inn
• Karen’s City Diner
• Kuba Kuba
• Rev It Up
• Strawberry Street Cafe
• Sidewalk Cafe
• The Republic
• Three Monkeys

Downtown

• Cafe Gutenberg
• Capital Ale House
• The Hard Shell
• LuLu’s
• Perly’s
• River City Diner
• Sine
• The Belvidere
• The Berkeley Hotel
• T-Miller’s
• The Tobacco Company

Carytown

• Can Can
• Galaxy Diner
• Mary Angela’s
• New York Deli
• The Water Grill
• Weezie’s Kitchen

(Photo courtesy of scottobear)

As the editor of RVANews, Valerie Catrow spends most of her time wrangling people over email and muttering to herself about the content calendar. She also contributes to our parenting column while maintaining her own blog, Made in Richmond. It should be noted that she loves tots, both the potato and child varieties.

December 3, 2009 9:37 AM 11