The Belmont Shore Christmas Parade

I don’t even like the parades at Disneyland, so maybe I’m not the right person to write a review on this tradition but I attended and I checked in, so I might as well! As I was housesitting in Long Beach, I felt like participating and acting like a local as I am contemplating moving to the area. One thing I have to give props to Long Beach on, is on electing a Peruvian born, gay mayor. How cool is that?!? And how awesome is it that he participated in the parade and garnered a great reaction from the crowd. Unfortunately that’s one of the few real positives I take away from my parade experience.
I’m a former Disney Annual Pass Holder and a resident of Pasadena, thus my parade expectations are pretty high, considering I’m accustom to the extravagant Disney productions and the renowned Rose Parade. This parade doesn’t even come close to those and I’m sure that’s expected. I guess they get points for being cute, but no creative points for having a city garbage truck or city bus with people waving to me from them.
One thing I’ve always liked about visiting Long Beach is that they seemed to have a fun and ethnically diverse community. I understand that the parade takes place in Belmont Shore and it’s awesome that the parade includes many different types of people but it’s too bad it doesn’t draw upon the greater more diverse community of potential spectators. Oh well, I guess parking in the area is bad enough with the group of people already attending, doesn’t need to get even worse.

First time going to the parade last night. It was a small town parade with big town crowds — but the parade runs on both sides of the street (!) so it is easy to get a good view. It was about 3 hours if you include both sides. The crowds aren’t bad though — very festive spirit, people in Santa hats and holiday theme clothes. If you sit on the starting side, you can leave before it ends. Oh, almost all the shops lining the street stay open so getting food, or shopping is easy.

A great way to start your holiday cheer. Getting back home was tough. next I will ride a bike or huff it!

Well done, Belmont Shore!
As former marching band parents, we’ve been to our fair share of city Christmas Parades.
This one, we really liked how they ran things.
Situated on a great street with a lot of shops & eateries.
Circled both sides of the street. Easy close-​up viewing for the spectators.
Very organized at the stepping-​off point. Great timing.
Plenty of friendly people working the event.
We (and our grouchy old chihuahua) were there to cheer on our Corgi grand-​pup who was marching with the SoCal Corgi Nation group.
Wow, We were wowed by the big enthusiastic turn-​out for this shindig!
Fun friendly crowd. Lots of people rocking the holiday gear.
(and dogs too–
)
People-​watching was just as much fun as the parade.
There were a lot of people enjoying pre-​parade meals on the outdoor patios of the many eateries along the street. We regretted eating beforehand because quite a few of the nice places were also dog-​friendly.
The hubby & I found a good spot near the parade launch area. There was a restaurant with a live band outside which kept us entertained while waiting for the parade to start.
Parking was easy to find because we came early to do some window-​shopping along 2^nd Avenue. But I could see how easily there would be issues for those who arrived later. The crowd grew really fast and the lots in the business area quickly filled up and overflowed into the residential streets.
We had fun!
Even our grouchy chihuahua got into the spirit!

The Belmont Shore area is a great place to spend some time during the holidays. Eat at one of the many quaint cafes on 2^nd Street and then have yourselves a nice long walk through the canals where the houses are spectacularly decorated. Actually it’s more than just the décor and lighting… everything is so alive… there are house parties going on throughout the neighborhood, so there is fabulous music, performances, people giving out hot chocolate, chowder, etc from their homes. The parade starts around 7 I believe and it’s alot of fun, especially for the kids because most of the boats are lively and throw candy out when kids hoot and holler. Streets close down for entrance into the neighborhood around 5pm. Get here before three for parking and bring a warm jacket. Oh and be sure to checkout the Newport Beach Boat parade for a similar bigger and brighter experience!

The day of the Christmas Parade is the best day in the shore! I make the weekend out of it. In the old day you could line up on the street at 3PM and half the fun is the time where everyone is hanging out on the street. Now its 5PM and that fun is gone. I love the parade. It’s nothing fancy. All the elected officials, local school bands, various groups and organizations in Long Beach. But that is what makes the parade so great.

How long should a parade last? 30 minutes you say? Well, this one is three hours. And most of the floats are just cars with Christmas lights on them. So, you definitely weren’t expecting the Rose Parade and it isn’t. But if you are a local and can walk to it, it can be fun.

Family fun — reminds me of a small town celebration. Super crowded. Be prepared — remember — lots of us want to enjoy this. We need to scoot over, and be nice.

another street blocker surprise

I lived in Belmont Shore in the early 80’s when they had the first Belmont Shore Christmas Parade. I had read about it in the Grunion Gazette and was sitting in my living room when I heard the HS bands start playing. Since this was back in the day when I could run, I ran the block and a half to Second Street, watched the small parade make it’s way down the street, cheered for Al Greenwood the Bedspread King, waved at Santa Claus, then walked back home and had a glass of wine.
Well, over the years, the charm of the parade has remained, but the crowds have grown to ginormous proportions!
I still love the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade, still miss Al Greenwood, the now dead Bedspread King, and still feel like this is the «official» start of the Holiday Season.
I will be going tomorrow night! I will park by chairs on the corner, fill a big to-​go cup with a coffee beverage and cheer the parade.
I have to deduct a star because the crowds are ridiculous.

i give it 4 stars, not 5, because of the crowds
the belmont shore paradefor the past 20 years has become much more crowded. I love the feel of A christmas parade that has a small town feel.
which was the case back in 1992 .
new rules have been passed over the decades, their used to be plenty of space to set out your chair out in themiddle island of the street and enjoy hot cocoa and a hot croissant in comfort. And watch people you know march proudly with their kids. Now you cant set your chair out until after 4pm. you should see the race for space…
It has been sooo commercialized, pretty much like the rest of the street and shore area. People are rude and pushy, it had lost some of its appeal to the little ones.
try the Seal beach parade… its held the day before, on a friday… and they have some really good bands…

I’d never been to a real live Christmas parade as a child so this was probably more exciting for me than it should have been. Belmont Shore is a small, inebriated boat/​beach town, which made it all the more unexpected that they had some decent high school marching bands participating in the event. The majority of the floats and trucks were pettily decorated and filled with eager community leaders and kids fervently waving at the crowd. However, the few floats that were elaborately adorned were bright with lights and complete with carolers and snow being blown into the street. It wasn’t spectacular but it was a good outlet for getting in the holiday mood.
My only gripe about last year’s parade was Santa’s unduly delayed appearance over twenty minutes after the parade was over and most of the spectators had cleared the streets. Most of the young’uns had also gone home by then but we stuck it out to see The Big Man make his way through the lonely street. Unfortunately, with the cleaning trucks approaching nearby to make their rounds down 2^nd, the moment was not as «magical» as anticipated. But alas, Nacho Libre was there to make it all better! If it weren’t for that beloved Mexican superhero and his awkward dancing, our night might have been a bust.
Tip: Try to find a spot on the west side of 2^nd (closest to the coast), which is where the parade route starts. And if you can, bring your own seating and food. We grabbed some Open Sesame to-​go (I recommend bringing something less messy and easier to eat with one hand) and were able to find a short wall to sit and eat at but it does get insanely crowded with obnoxious last-​minute onlookers impeding your view. Seating in the center of the street is best but you’re stuck once the parade starts.

I love the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade for all the wrong reasons.
Every year, this event brings to life a magical land where city public maintenance vehicles adorned with one string of Christmas lights count as parade floats.
Oh yes, there are floats that actually resemble floats too. My favorites are the Fantasy Castle stripclub float (though I think it would be improved by live on-​float poledancing) and the fire safety float. What’s so special about a fire safety float, you ask? Well, this cheery parade entry features a burning house on wheels, complete with smoke and kids in Santa hats waving from inside the windows and a guy in a dalmatian suit who is also waving rather than, you know, saving anybody. Children trapped in a burning building is not what first comes to mind when I think of the word «festive», but hey.
You also get to enjoy various people walking dogs, out-​of-​tune highschool marching bands (with a few in-​tune ones thrown in for variety), waving politicians you have never heard of, more dogs, and more people waving from scantily decorated utility vehicles.
But come on, that’s fabulous entertainment and you know it. It’s Belmont Shore, so you half-​expect that, with all the hype and all the wholesomeness, they must have a real class-​A Christmas parade, especially considering how insanely popular this thing is. Nope! They have Plan 9 from Belmont Shore, cruising slowly up and down Second Street every December.