Here comes the Hollywood Christmas Parade

It’s been a showbiz tradition for 80 years, beginning as the “Santa Claus Lane Parade” (and inspiring Gene Autry’s classic 1946 holiday tune, “Here Comes Santa Claus.”)

This Sunday, November 28, 2010, the Hollywood Christmas Parade returns with Grand Marshal Larry King and a host of celebrities, marching bands, giant balloons, floats and high-stepping equestrians. It’s fun, it’s entertaining, and it’s for a good cause—benefiting the Marine Toys for Tots program, for more than six decades providing needy children with a new holiday toy and the comfort and reassurance that they haven’t been forgotten.

The event takes place at 6:00 p.m., beginning at Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Avenue in front of the legendary Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, following a clockwise route east to Vine, south to Sunset, then west to Orange and north again to complete the circuit. Curbside viewing along the route is free, but if you want a grandstand seat, it’ll cost you $35, with group rates available. Full admission information here, and transportation information here.

And if you can’t make it in person, it’s also televised live and set for rebroadcast later on the Hallmark Channel, the Hallmark Movie Network and various local TV stations across the nation throughout December.

Posted 11/22/10