By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The Alabaster community will kick off the holiday season next weekend when it continues a longstanding tradition by hosting the city’s Christmas parade down U.S. 31.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, beginning at 10 a.m. on U.S. 31 south, and will be themed “Christmas melodies” this year. This year’s parade grand marshal will be longtime Alabaster resident and historian Bobby Joe Seales.

This year’s parade will follow the same route as previous years, and will begin at the Ernest McCarty Ford dealership on U.S. 31 before turning right onto Second Place Northwest, traveling down First Street Southwest and ending at the stop sign in front of Southbrook Village.

During the parade, which is organized and sponsored by Alabaster city personnel and the Alabaster Beautification Board, the two southbound lanes of U.S. 31 will be closed, and northbound and southbound traffic will be diverted onto the two northbound lanes.

The city will hold the parade rain or shine “unless conditions become unsafe for parade participants and spectators.”

The city will set up a judging station in front of the former City Hall building on U.S. 31, and floats will have a chance to conduct one-minute performances for the judges when they stop in front of the building.

After the parade, the judges will award winners in the following categories: Best Holiday Spirit, Best Use of Theme, Best Walking Entry, Most Creative and Most Entertaining.

No live Santa Claus characters will be allowed in the parade, as the city’s official Santa Claus will be riding on an Alabaster fire truck at the back of the parade lineup.

In order to view all parade floats, the city is encouraging spectators to be south of the U.S. 31-Industrial Road intersection.