Annual holiday festival and parade ushers in holiday

Downtown Chula Vista will be decked in the holiday spirit with two of its most popular holiday events this weekend.

The Third Avenue Village Association’s fifth annual Holiday in the Village event and the city of Chula Vista’s Starlight Parade will be held Dec.3.

Both events are free with Holiday in the Village starting at noon to 4 p.m. at Memorial Park, and the Starlight parade starting at 6 p.m., moving north on Third Avenue between E and H streets.

Holiday in the Village will feature snow flurries, live onstage performances by Chula Vista High School’s House of Guitars and the San Diego Youth Symphony.

Scenes from “The Nutcracker” and the Lyceum Theater’s “A Snow White Christmas” will be acted out throughout the day.

Children will have the opportunity to write letters to Santa and create a holiday craft with the Living Coast Discovery Center.

An Ugly Holiday Sweater contest will end the event with a grand prize.

The Holiday in The Village event started five years ago when the Third Avenue Village Association could no longer afford to host the Starlight Parade because of the increased cost to host the event.

“The cost just go so astronomical especially with police that we couldn’t afford to do it,” said Heather Marshall, TAVA communications manager. “So we couldn’t do the parade but we still wanted to do something on the day of the parade would have happened and that’s Holiday in the Village.”

This year TAVA has a $10,000 budget for Holiday in The Village, with most of that money coming from sponsorships, Marshall said.

The Starlight Parade’s is in its third year after a brief hiatus.

“It always meant a lot to local people in the neighborhood who come out and watch that parade,” said Chula Vista Councilwoman Pat Aguilar. “So I’m really thrilled to be part of the effort to bring it back.”

Aguilar and Chula Vista Councilman Steve Miesen were part of the committee to seek funding and keep the tradition alive.

The theme for this year’s parade is Celebrating Chula Vista’s Champions, in honor of the 2016 Olympic Games.

The parade is the largest nighttime holiday parade in San Diego County, Aguilar said.

This year the parade will feature about 125 parade entries including numerous colorful floats, marching bands, dance teams and classic cars.

Aguilar said the budget for the parade was $65,000, all paid for by sponsorships.