Parades, free festivals kick off December's first weekend
Tired of those frenzied door-buster sales? Christmas parades and holiday festivities -- free events for all -- are among the events unfolding today throughout Los Angeles County.
The 41st annual Christmas Festival & Parade in Pacoima, themed "Peace on Earth," began this morning with the parade and continues at Pacoima Recreation Center today and Sunday. Firefighters who battled the recent Valley fires are being honored.
The 43rd annual Watts/Willowbrook Christmas Parade started off with a gospel extravaganza this morning, followed by a noon parade that starts at El Segundo Boulevard and Clovis Avenue and ends at 108th Street and Grandee Avenue. Kiki Shepard, longtime co-host of "It's Showtime at the Apollo," is the celebrity grand marshal.
In Wilmington, the Banning Residence Museum will begin its annual "Victorian Christmas" celebration. The theme this year is "The Spirit of Giving." The weekend event, at the museum at 401 E. M St., features trees decorated with handmade ornaments, period crafts in the Stage Coach Barn and strolling entertainers. A horse-drawn trolley will take guests to the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum and its annual "A Civil War Christmas" celebration. The museum there will present authentic re-creations of holiday activities, handmade toys, ornaments and decorations, and entertainment from that era.
-- Ruben Vives
