2026 theme

A Very Merry Sudbury Christmas

Saturday, November 21, 2026 · 5:30 p.m.

Date: Saturday, November 21, 2026
Starts: 5:30 p.m.
Fireworks: 5:15 p.m.
Roads close: 3:00 p.m.

Route

2026 theme

A Very Merry Sudbury Christmas

The theme is Sudbury itself. Build a float about the part of this city that is yours.

A team you have stood by through some very long seasons.
A neighbourhood or school mascot, even your rec hockey team.
Something you would send a visitor to experience that is uniquely Sudbury.
The lake you swim in. The headframe you grew up under. The trail you walk every October.

We are not handing out a list. The floats people still talk about years later are the ones nobody saw coming, so take the theme somewhere we would never have thought to send you.

One thing, though

There is only one Big Nickel. Everyone loves it, and everyone thinks of it first.

Bring it to us in the entry form — there is a box for the description the announcer reads as you pass, and that is where a good idea earns its applause.

Three ways to be part of it

Children in winter coats watch the parade from behind a barricade, some waving.

Watching the parade

Start time, road closures, where to stand, and where to park. Everything you need for the night itself.

A transport truck lit end to end in green drives the parade route at night.

Entering a float

Fees, dimensions and the entry form. Most entries take about fifteen minutes.

A Downtown Sudbury tent on the parade route, branded 'Cue the Good Stuff'.

Volunteering

About four hours on parade night, and the best seat in the city.

Gallery

A green firework bursts over downtown Sudbury as spectators watch from the street below.

Fireworks burst over rooftops at night as bundled-up families watch from the street.

A parent and child collect hot chocolate at a table under a tent on the route.

A crowd in winter coats lines a street strung with lights, waiting near a lit storefront at night.

Spectators line both sides of an empty street lit by streetlamps and storefronts at night.

A large crowd gathers at a street corner at night, some seated on the curb with strollers.

Spectators sit and stand along a row of storefronts strung with lights, waiting at night.

See the whole gallery

News

November 14, 2026

Road closures for Saturday, November 21

Ste. Anne, Elgin, Durham, Larch, Lisgar, Elm and Notre Dame all close at 3:00 p.m. and reopen about an hour after the last entry passes. Parking is not permitted anywhere on the route from 3:00 p.m., and vehicles left on it will be towed at the owner’s expense.

September 2, 2026

Float registration is open for 2026

Entries are open and this year’s theme is A Very Merry Sudbury Christmas. Not-for-profit entries are $75 for the first vehicle and $100 for each additional; commercial entries are $150 and $200. Register early — the parade filled at 68 entries last year and we expect the same again.

A Very Merry Sudbury Christmas