Norwich Winter Festival returns with parade Sunday, other live events
Norwich – The COVID-19 pandemic will not steal Christmas from downtown Norwich this year.
The Winter Festival returns Sunday with the downtown parade, sponsored by the Norwich Events Organization, beginning at 1 p.m. and winding along Main and Franklin streets, Broadway and Courthouse Square. The theme, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” features the iconic Dr. Seuss cartoon Christmas character, not the pandemic.
Winter Festival activities were canceled last year and replaced by online videos.
To spread people out along the parade route, various groups will perform in three locations, directly after the new Franklin Square roundabout, near the intersection of Franklin and Willow streets and at Courthouse Square.
Norwich Youth Cheerleading will seek donations in the These Guys Brewing Co. parking lot to pay for the group's trip to the National Championship in Florida.
Free hot chocolate will be available at Eastern Connecticut Savings Bank and Chelsea Groton Bank on Main Street, Foundry 66 on Franklin Street and Chestnut Street Playhouse.
Portable toilets will be available at the former YMCA parking lot on Main Street, and bathrooms will be open at many downtown businesses.
Parking will be free at the Main Street Garage, 70 Main St., Market Street Garage, City Hall parking deck, 101 Broadway, Artspace parking lot, 113 Franklin St. and the Norwich Transportation Center on Falls Avenue.
Festivities move to City Hall, 100 Broadway, on Friday, Dec. 3, beginning with a Salvation Army Red Kettle fundraiser from 9 a.m. to noon, featuring a Salvation Army Band and local political and civic leaders ringing the bell at the kettle.
The 30th anniversary Light Up City Hall event will run from 5 to 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, as part of the First Friday downtown celebration. Th event will feature a live broadcast by Pebbles from Jammin’ 107.7, balloon animals by “Stilts,” Norwich ventriloquist Donald Beebe, and Christmas caroling.
Santa will arrive in a vintage decorated Chevrolet pickup truck.
First Friday events will continue throughout downtown after the lighting.
The Howard Brown Memorial Park will have lights and decorations, funded through donations to the Light Up City Hall Committee and Norwich Public Utilities. The lighted gazebo can be viewed on the city’s website at www.norwichct.org by clicking on the red tree on the home page.
The 2021 wooden Cat’s Meow Ornament features Slater Memorial Museum and will be available for $10, along with past ornaments of City Hall, Buckingham Memorial and Leffingwell House Museum. The ornaments are available at the Norwich city clerk’s office.
The festival concludes with the Santa Con Pub Crawl from 6 to 9:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, sponsored by Norwich Events Organization, beginning at Strange Brew Pub, 86 Water St., and progressing to seven other downtown bars and restaurants.
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