The 2021 Daily Gazette Holiday Parade in Downtown Schenectady will be held on November 20, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. This will be the return of the Capital Region tradition after it was cancelled last year due to the Covid-19 concerns. The Daily Gazette, The Capital Region Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Schenectady will be coming together again to kick off the holiday season in Schenectady. The theme for 2021 is “Superheroes”. Floats, dancers, bands, vehicles, and even the parade attendees will be ready to sparkle and celebrate the return of Schenectady’s Holiday Parade. The parade will be honoring all superheroes – including comic book characters from childhood and our everyday heroes!
Supporting Sponsors
Gold Sponsors:
Metro Ford, Schenectady County, National Grid
Silver Sponsors:
Marshall & Sterling, 1st National Bank of Scotia, SEFCU
Participate in or Support the Parade
Interested in sponsoring or participating in the parade in 2022? Contact Kaci Palleschi, Events Manager of The Daily Gazette
Before the Parade
Before the start of the parade at 4:00pm, there will be a special musical performance by Madison VanDenburg. Madison was a fan-favorite, and top three finalist on season 17 of American Idol. She will be performing a selection of songs to get everyone in the holiday spirit from the area in front of the Grand Stand on State Street. Madison will debut her new original Christmas song “The Light of Christmas” written by multi-platinum songwriters Kenny Lamb and Anthony Little at the Schenectady Tree Lighting and Holiday Parade on Saturday, November 20th. Madison chose to unveil “The Light of Christmas” in the Capital Region near her hometown of Cohoes, New York and the tree lighting event will be the first public performance of the song.
Street Closures
Between 3-4 p.m. the Schenectady Police Department will be closing several downtown streets including, but not limited to the following streets (intersecting streets will also be affected):
State Street (Nott Terrace to Broadway): 3 p.m.
State Street (Broadway to the end of Western Gateway Bridge on the Scotia side): 4 p.m.
Western Gateway Bridge (closed in both directions): 4 p.m.
Erie Boulevard (State Street to Liberty Street): 4 p.m.
Broadway (Liberty Street to Hamilton Street): 4 p.m.
Lafayette Street (Liberty Street to State Street): 4 p.m.
Clinton Street (Smith to State Street): 4 p.m.
1-890 Washington Avenue exits will be closed (4C Westbound, Rice Road Eastbound): 4 p.m.
Church Street (Argyle Place to Liberty Street): 4 p.m.
The following lots are conveniently located near the parade route:
Schenectady Municipal Parking Garage (entrance: 407 Hamilton St)
Broadway South lot (entrance: 312 Broadway)
Broadway North lot (entrance: 102 Broadway)
Amtrak lot (entrance: 320 Liberty St)
Erie Boulevard and Liberty Street North lots (entrances: 223 Liberty St and 270 Liberty St)
City Hall lot (entrance: 407 Liberty St)
For a map and details regarding all downtown lots, please visit https://parkschenectady.com/.
Parade Route:
The parade starts at the SCCC parking lot, and goes up State Street before turning onto Lafayette St.
Watch the 2019 Parade: