Campus News

UK event planning students partner with Downtown Lexington Partnership for holiday parade

Artwork for the parade was produced by the ISC event planning students.
Artwork for the parade was produced by students in the UK ISC event planning class.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 25, 2024) — Get excited — Lexington’s Holiday Parade Presented by Commonwealth Credit Union is Dec. 7. The parade will begin 11 a.m. on Midland Avenue, running west on Main Street, ending at Mill Street.

The parade is a collaborative effort between students from a University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information event planning class and the Downtown Lexington Partnership. Student teams assist with recruitment, event promotion, vendor coordination and logistics, all aimed at showcasing the downtown area and all it has to offer.

This event will include local bands, businesses, floats and more. Attendees should expect a day full of holiday fun. Be sure to check out Santa’s Corner at the Pavilion for arts and crafts, photo opportunities, letters to Santa and more.

After the parade, attendees can plan to head over to Lex Live to watch a showing of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" featuring Jim Carrey at 12:30 p.m. There will be hot chocolate along with a cookie bar for attendees. Students will also receive a $5 bounce-back arcade card.

In the coming weeks, students are helping register parade participants. The deadline to register for the parade is Nov. 29.

“Downtown Lexington Partnership is excited to once again partner with the University of Kentucky students from the integrated strategic communication event planning class to produce an exciting, family-friendly event downtown,” said Laura Farnsworth, Downtown Lexington Partnership’s director of development and events. “We encourage all interested businesses, clubs and nonprofit organizations to register for the parade downtown and bring Christmas joy to thousands of guests on a crisp, December morning.”

If you are interested in participating in this year’s parade, contact Ansley Bayless at ansley.bayless@uky.edu or Farnsworth at laura@downtownlex.com.

Link for this year’s application: https://www.downtownlex.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-Parade-Application.pdf

About Downtown Lexington Partnership

Downtown Lexington Partnership (DLP) is the nonprofit umbrella downtown organization formed in 2017 to provide a single point of contact and accountability and a coordinated approach to downtown revitalization and management. DLP encourages responsible economic development, produces events, addresses issues on behalf of stakeholders and promotes downtown Lexington. DLP has more than 150 members and produces many events for the public, including Central Bank Thursday Night Live, The Rink at Triangle Park and more.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.