Overview The Parade of Lights is Saco's biggest night of the holiday season and the event Saco Main Street saves for last each year. On the first weekend of December the city lights its holiday tree on Friday evening, then on Saturday a daytime holiday festival fills downtown before an illuminated parade rolls down historic Main Street after dark. On site The Saturday festival brings story time with Santa at City Hall, carolers, winter crafts at the Dyer Library and Saco Museum, a holiday shopping stroll and a live nativity. At six o'clock Main Street closes and glowing floats, light-up dancers and marching groups make their way from Beach Street to Pepperell Square, ending with Santa riding in on the fire boat. The presenting sponsor names the parade, gets a float in it and a banner across Main Street; the tree lighting and Santa story time are sold separately. Audience Families with children, grandparents and longtime residents who line Main Street every December, joined by visitors from Biddeford, Old Orchard Beach and the rest of York County. The crowd is in a festive, shop-local mood, and the daytime holiday stroll keeps downtown shops busy before the parade. Talent and Influencers Santa is the headliner, arriving on the fire boat as the parade's finale after an afternoon of story time at City Hall. School choruses carol at the tree lighting, a Salvation Army brass band plays before the parade, and local dance studios, businesses and community groups build the floats. Track record The Parade of Lights is a long-running Saco holiday tradition that brings thousands of people downtown on a December evening. It has been produced by Saco Main Street for years, and drone footage of the lit-up parade on Main Street has become one of the organization's signature images. Brand presence Recent sponsors include Renewal by Andersen, Bangor Savings Bank, Saco & Biddeford Savings and Moody's Collision Centers, with PeoplesChoice Credit Union presenting the tree lighting. Seven levels are offered, from Community Supporter to the exclusive parade presenting sponsor, and every parade level from $500 up includes a float.