After Thanksgiving: The Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade

The children’s book, A Cajun Night Before Christmas, by J. B. King, Jr. was illustrated by James Rice. This book is an entertaining story that will bring anyone back to their childhood imagination. It is one of the country’s most widely acclaimed Christmas books. The author used a delightful twist on “A Visit from St. Nicholas” but with a Cajun (French Canadian descendants in the bayou areas of southern Louisiana) patois. This parody was published over fourty-five years ago by Pelican publishing, which in turn has also published many other reinterpretations from many different states. When Milburn Calhoun heard a reading of this story, “He enlisted Rice to provide the colorful illustrations, including the sight of St. Nick on a skiff drawn by eight magic alligators,” (The Cajun Night Before Christmas) and the story was born. This classic tale of Santa arriving in a skiff, to bring presents to the children, presents the prolific use of imagery, rich characterization of the unique Cajun culture, and generous figurative language.

This show can be seen on TV every Christmas season. Then Ron Howard takes this short film and draws it out to be a two and a half-hour long movie. The worst aspect of the movie is that it makes a mockery of Seuss's main message: “Christmas doesn't come from a store.” This movie is all about selling, from those furry talking Grinch dolls to endless fast-food tie-ins.

December events should be filled with joy with the Lights on Rice Parade, Festival of Lights, Bell Ringing and much more! Please don’t forget that the minimum hours for December is 6, so be sure to sign up for these events and show your Christmas spirit to the community.

Christmas like Thanksgiving believe it or not, do happen to share many traits. One major factor that the two own is the warmth and love of bringing family and close friends together. It’s the few times a year that everyone has a reason to all gather around to

Santa leaped from his sleigh laughing and shouting, “Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s much quicker landing that way than on snow!” Santa and the Brownies went all over the world that Christmas Eve night, at a time when there wasn’t a snowflake in sight!

There are those who are quick to get into the holiday spirit, and there are those who blog angrily about how they saw candy canes on the Wal-Mart shelves before Halloween. To satisfy those in the former group, radio stations have been jumping on the 24-hour holiday music train since the mid-1990s. To the disappointment of the latter, the trend is gaining momentum and starting earlier than ever this year.

One of the main attractions in Natchitoches is the Christmas Festival. One weekend in the December on the Cane River tourists experience a sky filled with fire works and festive lights surround Front Street to immerse victors in bring in the New Year. Vendors from all over the United States apply months in advance for entrance into the festival. Also,

Some of them don’t occur on Christmas day, but happens before or after the holiday. One of them is “The Day of the Candles,” or “Dia de las Velitas.” During this Columbian holiday, everyone lights up skinny candles and sets them outside buildings to light up cities. A tradition in Spain is to stay up to feast and party until morning. In an old Spanish verse, Christmas is called the “good night” or Noche Buena, so it says that the people cannot sleep. There are also religious traditions. In Mexico, children walk around the streets dressing up as Mary and Joseph, traveling by donkey to represent the time when the two had to find lodging. This is called Las Posadas. After the children do Las Posadas, they have a piñata party just for the fun of it. Spain honors the Mass of the Rooster, when it is said a rooster was one of the first to see the birth of baby Jesus. Spain celebrates it by lighting oil lamps and going to church to go to a mass at the midnight of Christmas

All around Louisiana, the people celebrate Mardi Gras in early spring. Urban cities such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge utilize fancy bright lighted parades, celebrity kings and queens, and shiny beads to celebrate the festivities. Growing up in south Louisiana, I attended many of these parades in the Big Easy. My grandparents would tell stories of rural Mardi Gras and the Cajun culture. After hearing their stories, I decided to attend the courir de Mardi Gras. The courir de Mardi Gras is a traditional Mardi Gras event held the Tuesday before the catholic lent season in small rural towns. This is known as Fat Tuesday run.

Historic Highland Neighborhood – The Krewe of Highland parade will roll this Sunday, February 26, 2016 at 2 p.m. with Renzi Education and Art Center leading the parade as this year’s Grand Marshalls.

This fun run is just the beginning for Santa celebrations. There is also a fun after party where you can mingle with other participants

During the upcoming weeks, there will be at least one major parade that takes place in the city of Mobile, the largest parades will take place on the last few days of Carnival, or Mardi Gras, season.

More than 150 different floats, organizations and groups join in walking in, include Several people from the News 18 team.

"Visit the Wreaths Across America Facebook page to see pictures of cemeteries across the country decorated with the wreaths, along with the perpetually lit Christmas tree. In addition, mark December 17, 2016 on the calendar, as that is the date for the next event. Every soldier should be honored for their sacrifice, and this program is our way of doing so. We appreciate all who participate in the event, from the companies transporting the wreaths to the individuals who place the wreaths. We couldn't do it without this help," Worcester states.

The last Open Day for 2015 at ANZAC Cottage on Sunday, December 6 will focus on Christmas, with a special screening of the legendary 'Christmas Truce' that took place one hundred and one years ago during World War I.