Marching Sachems lead parade of holiday cheer

Hundreds lined the streets of downtown Laconia on Saturday night to view an annual spectacle: the city’s holiday parade. The parade kicks off the city’s Celebrate Laconia Lights Festival, which includes Christmas trees decorated and illuminated downtown in Stewart Park. The parade started promptly at 5 p.m. near Laconia High School, and continued down Union Avenue before turning onto Church Street. The long procession, a traditional parade which included festive decorated floats, walkers, a marching band, first responder and other vehicles and a number of individuals dressed in costume, continued along Church to its intersection with Main Street, where marchers turned and finished at Stewart Park along the Winnipesaukee River. This year, families and children lined the roads and cheered as the parade meandered slowly toward downtown.

— Gabriel Perry