Hundreds Gather In Old Town Temecula For Santa’s Electric Light Parade

Hundreds of people lined the sidewalk in Old Town Temecula Friday night for the city’s holiday parade.

“This is fun,” Issak Dure said. “It’s exciting to see all these people out, you know, after Covid. So it’s amazing.”

Dure and his wife, Rachel, arrived shortly after the parade started, others started camping out to secure their spots well before the first float made its way down Old Town Front Street. From pizza and hot chocolate to card games and footballs—those waiting for the parade to start kept busy (and warm).

Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department started off the parade right at 7 p.m. with excited cheers as they turned on their lights and sirens. 

Photos by Alicia Ramirez/The Riverside Record

But with more than 90 entries this year, the parade went well into the night—with Santa Claus making his way to the end of the parade route more than two hours later.

For the Dures, highlights of the parade included a caravan of vintage Volkswagens and the Polynesian dancers.

“We just moved here [from Huntington Beach] actually like six months ago, so we’re trying to do all of the Temecula things,” Rachel said. “We love it.”

And while some stayed until the very end, a number of people left to grab food and warm up on what turned into a very chilly evening.

“We’re gonna get dinner,” Rachel said. “He wants wings and I want some like Asian soup, so I don’t know. We’ll see!”