Toys and Games will float through town in Saturday’s River of Light lantern parade
December 1, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Traffic stops for about 30-45 minutes for the annual River of Light lantern parade. In 2021 shown here, the route stretched from the State Office Comoplex to Dac Rowe Park along Main Street. Tomorrow’s parade begins at Brookside Primary School on Stowe Street and ends at the park. File photo by Gordon Miller
The first Saturday in December brings one of Waterbury’s favorite community events: the River of Light lantern parade.
School students have been working on creations of willow and paper lanterns and community members have attended recent workshops to make even more. The theme for the 14th annual event this year is Toys and Games.
The parade as usual begins at 5 p.m. sharp from Brookside Primary School. Burlington bands Sambatucada and Brass Balagan are expected to return to provide festive beats at the front and back of the procession.
The parade will heads down Stowe Street to Main Street to make a right towards Dac Rowe Park for the finale where there will be bonfires, hot chocolate, and the Cirque de Fuego fire spinners from Jericho.
Expect road closures for the parade to safely pass through town from 5 to about 5:45 p.m. Organizers note that this will also affect intersections with High Street, Union Street, Railroad Street, Bidwell Lane and Winooski Street for a short time.
In a community announcement, organizer MK Monley urges everyone in town at the time to take in the spectacle. “We hope you will come out and enjoy it and if you're stuck in the traffic and are able to spend 20 minutes to view the parade - it will be a treat!”
In addition to the individual lanterns by primary school students, middle school students and community artists have made large-scale creations, some requiring multiple people to carry them. “You will not be disappointed,” Monley said.
The public is reminded to not park in front of Brookside school. Parking is available in the lots behind the school - please do not park on Armory Avenue - and throughout downtown in public lots including at Anderson Parks, the municipal complex and the post office. Dac Rowe will be closed for parking, according to the Recreation Department.
Also on tap for Saturday:
Waterbury Rotary Club will be putting up and decorating the Christmas tree in the bandstand at Rusty Parker Memorial Park earlier in the day on Saturday before the parade.
Waterbury Area Senior Center at 14 Stowe St. has a bake sale planned, 4-6 p.m., with cookies and cinnamon rolls for sale.
Waterbury Public Library will be open 4-8 p.m. They invite folks to pop in to warm up with a view of Dac Rowe Field. In keeping with the parade theme, they will have puzzles, board games and coloring pages out along with free coffee, tea and hot chocolate. People can check out books and use the restrooms, too.
More information is online on the new River of Light parade page on the Waterbury MakerSphere website.