For the first time ever Sydney and I went to the Hometown Holiday Horse Parade in Greenville, OH. Wow! How did we not know this neat parade was almost in our backyard? To top the evening off, we couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was chilly but not too cold. The perfect evening for the kickoff to the holiday season!

Come Early to Shop!

This year was the 15th Annual Hometown Holiday Horse Parade. This parade is the kickoff each year to the Christmas season in Greenville. The parade started at 7:00 pm but there was much to do prior to it. Shopping galore can be found in downtown Greenville. Whether you are looking for clothing boutiques, home decor shops or other specialty stores you can find them right here in this beautiful downtown. If you are foodies like we are, then a must stop is the KitchenAid Store. It is a dream come true for the cook or baker! You can seriously spend hours in this one store if you enjoy kitchenware.  🙂

And make sure you check out The Blue Bow Boutique!  We visited this adorable store earlier in the year and wrote an article about them. 🙂  We’ve definitely made many trips back since!

Let’s Talk Food

There was a lot of pre-parade entertainment that started at 5:00 pm. You could enjoy some Christmas music performances, take your children to Annie Oakley Park for free pony rides and visit the craft and snack vendors all around the downtown area. There are a couple of awesome coffee shops you can stop in and get something hot to drink to warm you up. Coffee drinks are always a necessity!

Parade Time!

Greenville has the longest running horse parade in the area. They get participants and spectators from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The Hometown Holiday Horse Parade typically draws 8,000 plus people to watch the parade and visit downtown Greenville! No wonder it is the longest running horse parade in the area! The Hometown Holiday Horse Parade has been voted “Best Community Parade” by the readers of Ohio Magazine for 2015, 2018 and they just received word that it was selected once again for 2019! Congrats Greenville!

The Grand Marshal for this years parade was Dick Brown. Dick and his wife put together a spectacular Christmas light display at their home that has over 100,000 lights. They live on Requarth Road just outside of Greenville. A fun little side trip to take after the parade was over.

Bringing up the rear of the Hometown Holiday Horse Parade was Santa Claus. He was obviously the hit of the parade with all of the little ones!  🙂

Put the Hometown Holiday Horse Parade on your calendar for next year! You will want to come early to do some Christmas shopping.  Not only are you supporting small businesses when you buy local, but you are also giving really unique and different gifts to your family and friends!

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!