Overview The GM Financial Parade of Lights opens the holiday season in downtown Fort Worth. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, lit floats, giant illuminated balloons, marching bands, antique cars and equestrian units wind through the streets of downtown after dark, and Santa Claus arrives at the end. Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc., a 501(c)(3), produces it, and the day brings families downtown hours early to eat, shop and stake out a spot on the curb. On site The route runs about a mile and a half and loops past Bass Performance Hall and Sundance Square, starting at Weatherford and Throckmorton. Pre-parade family activities fill the afternoon, then the parade steps off at 6 pm. Viewing along the route is free, and reserved Street Seats and a VIP hospitality area give ticketed guests prime views. Entries are chosen by a jury, and a team of volunteers keeps the evening running. Sponsors can put a professionally built, lit float or an illuminated signature balloon in the lineup, underwrite the volunteer program, or take VIP seating for guests and Street Seats for employees. Audience Tens of thousands of families line the route, most of them from Fort Worth, Tarrant County and the wider Dallas-Fort Worth area, with plenty of kids, school groups and multi-generational crowds who come back every year. Far more watch from home on local TV and social streams. Talent and Influencers Each parade has a grand marshal. A recent one was Chris Cassidy, the retired Navy SEAL and former NASA astronaut who leads the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. Fort Worth's mayor rides in the lineup, and Santa and Mrs. Claus close the show. CBS Texas anchors host the live broadcast from a set on the route. Track record DFWII started the parade in 1983 to bring people back into the central business district, and it has grown into one of the largest illuminated parades in the country. CBS Texas carries it live on TXA-21 and streams it on the CBS News Texas app and the parade's Facebook page. It earns heavy local press every year across print, online, TV and radio. Brand presence GM Financial holds the title and produces the broadcast with its own marketing team, and it runs a pace car and several entries of its own. Signature sponsors include TCU, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M Fort Worth, UTA West, the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Frost Bank. 95.9 The Ranch and 92.1 Hank FM are the radio partners, and CBS Texas is the media sponsor.