Item No. 11.5

Council Report: C 218/2020

Subject: Santa Claus Parade - City Wide

Reference:

Date to Council: November 9, 2020
Author: Ray Mensour
Executive Director, Recreation & Culture
(519) 253-2300x2702
rmensour@citywindsor.ca
Recreation and Culture
Report Date: November 5, 2020
Clerk’s File #: SR/13663

To: Mayor and Members of City Council

Recommendation:

THAT the grant funding request from the Windsor Parade Corporation for up to $20,000 for the 2020 Santa Claus Stationary Parade BE APPROVED; and further,

THAT the Chief Administrative Officer and City Clerk BE AUTHORIZED to sign any agreement or document related to the 2020 Santa Claus Stationary Parade, to be satisfactory in form to the City Solicitor, in financial content to the City Treasurer and content to the Executive Director of Recreation & Culture.

Executive Summary:

N/A

Background:

For the past number of years, the Windsor Parade Corporation (WPC) annually hosts the Santa Claus Parade in the City of Windsor. Due to the COVID–19 pandemic, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) will not permit a traditional Parade to happen due to the potential for it to attract a large crowd of people standing in close proximity to one another for an extended period of time. Subsequently, the WPC explored other formats for this event that might still allow it to take place.

Discussion:

As an alternative, the WPC is proposing to create a stationary parade where the floats and displays stay in one place while vehicles drive by to view it. The WPC originally requested Erie Street as the location for the stationary parade, as they indicated that they had secured a sponsor to host this event in that district. The proposed event would have happened on December 5th, 2020 from 6pm-9pm, with an additional two-hour staging time for set up, and an additional hour required for tear down.