Colorado Springs may have lacked the snow and temperatures often associated with the winter holidays, but its holiday cheer was as strong as ever during the annual Festival of Lights Parade Saturday night.

Garland wrapped lampposts and people could be spotted donning Santa hats and other festive attire in the warm, sunny weather as Christmas music blared throughout downtown leading up to the free event, now in its 40th year.

“It’s hard to put into words,” said Colorado Springs resident Meghan VanZyl, when asked what the event means to the community. “This has been a great way to bring the people in a really big city together in a way that gives it sort of a small-town feel.”

VanZyl is a marketing director with Awesome Home Services, an HVAC company that decided to participate in the parade for the first time this year. With this year’s theme being “Celebrating the holiday season through the sights and sounds,” they opted for a float showcasing a water heater topped with an inflatable logo and draped in Christmas lights.

Other participants’ themes ranged from more traditional winter characters like reindeer, polar bears and a few grinches while others opted for alternatives like the Michigan State University Spartans and the Ghostbusters.

“They love us,” proclaimed Dan with Ghostbusters of Colorado United, who have participated in multiple parades over the years. “It’s been a great event for the community, the kids love it and everyone just loves Ghostbusters.”

Like in past years, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum and Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum held respective events during the daytime leading up to the parade. The USOPM welcomed 2024 Olympic wrestling champion Sarah Hildebrandt for a meet-and-greet followed by a discussion with USA Men’s wrestling head coach Bill Zadick.

The Pioneers Museum held its annual Family Fun Day, which featured live music, arts and crafts activities and representatives with the U.S. Postal Service helping kids deliver letters to Santa. The event has been going on nearly as long as the parade at 39 years.

In Acacia Park, local tuba and euphonium players performed holiday standards for the public during the annual Tuba Christmas performance.

All were well attended, which came as little surprise given the rich tradition the budding events have cultivated over the years. The parade’s marketing and sponsorship manager Karole Campbell has worked with the nonprofit for the past eight years and has admired the event even longer.

She noted that around 60,000 people attend the parade each year and that some have contacted her as early in the year as June to ask if it’s coming back and, if so, at what time.

“We just have a ton of people that believe in it,” Campbell said. “Some people start showing up as early as noon, but you really start to see people line up by 3:30 with their chairs and blankets and everything.

This year was no different. Just as Campbell described, attendees could be seen setting up lawn chairs and hot cocoa stands along North Tejon Street hours ahead of the parade. By the time the show was underway, the street was jam-packed from start to finish, with people taking in high school marching bands, local businesses, government agencies and the recently crowned USL Champion Switchbacks in various floats appropriately featuring loud sights and sounds.

What’s new this year and here to stay is a greater emphasis on fundraising. Earlier this year, the annual local event was named among others that will lose funding from the city’s Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax revenue starting in 2025.

The plan is for the parade to continue, but it will now be funded entirely through sponsors, donations and grants. Campbell said it takes roughly $100,000 to put on every year that is “money-in and money-out” to cover costs, including street closures, police services and event insurance.

Donations can be made through both the nonprofit’s official website and a separate online campaign through Give Pikes Peak.

“It’s just a really cool tradition,” said Campbell. “It’s free to the public, it’s nonpartisan and any and all faces, opinions and denominations are welcome.”