Royal Oak Jingle & Light Parade to bring holiday cheer

ROYAL OAK — After a hiatus for a couple of years, the Royal Oak Jingle & Light Parade will return to the city this month.

The Royal Oak Jingle & Light Parade will be held beginning at noon on Saturday, Dec. 10, in downtown Royal Oak. It will be the first time that the event will be held fully since 2019.

“The first year that we did this event in 2019, we had over 10,000 people line the streets of Main Street for a first-year event,” Julie Law, with 360 Event Productions, who put on the event, said. “We are really excited to be able to host the event again, and our anticipation of attendance is pretty high. So we’re excited to bring all the families together in downtown.”

The Jingle & Light Parade features a multitude of events, including the Cookie Crawl from 1 to 6 p.m., the Holiday Light Parade at 7 p.m., photos with Santa Claus from 8 to 10 p.m. and a Winter Market from noon to 10 p.m.

The Cookie Crawl will allow attendees to buy a pass for $30 to receive a holiday tin and a map to direct participants to retailers to collect cookies from local bakeries. Passes are available at www.ROJingle.com.

“The Cookie Crawl sells out every single year,” Law said. “We’ve actually added more tents and more cookies for the crawl. We’re gonna have over 15,000 cookies in downtown Royal Oak.”

There will be horse and carriage rides that will start at Third Street, east of Main Street. They will go down to Lincoln Avenue and back up Main in the downtown. Tickets can be purchased at www.ROJingle.com and any tickets available the day of the event will be sold at the start location on Third Street, east of Main.

The Holiday Light Parade will take place on Main Street between Lincoln and Eleven Mile Road and feature floats from The Parade Company and local businesses.

According to a press release, more than 50 organizations are expected to be joining the parade this year, including the Royal Oak High School Marching Band, Detroit School of Arts Marching Band, Redford Unicycle Group, Royal Oak Fire and Police Department and Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus will be welcomed to Royal Oak by Mayor Michael Fournier, who will present them with a key to the city. Along with their reindeer, they will be available for free photos at Centennial Commons.

The press release also stated that the event’s Winter Market will have a heated tent with live music; hand-crafted merchandise from local vendors; a cocktail bar and a variety of hot cocoa options. It will be located at Centennial Commons and it will have games, s’more stations and food trucks.

“We’re excited that we’re moving towards the park because there’s ice skating right there,” said Law. “We believe that that’s going to bring an additional fun element for families.”

The Royal Oak Jingle & Light Parade was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic and the parade portion of the event was canceled last year due to high winds, though the Cookie Crawl was still held.

“By virtue of having the event restored, we’re excited to bring that back and have that as another amenity to celebrate the Christmas and holiday season,” City Manager Paul Brake said.

Brake recently saw residents and others come to Royal Oak for the tree lighting ceremony, and events like that and the Jingle & Light Parade will help bring people to the city.

“It will be a draw for the downtown, not only for residents but also regionally,” he said.