Parading a Horse-Drawn Christmas

Young girls dressed as Santa's elves hand out candy canes, Christmas carols blare from loudspeakers and spectators scurry to secure a good spot as America's largest horse-drawn carriage parade gets under way in downtown Lebanon, Ohio.

Young girls dressed as Santa’s elves hand out candy canes, Christmas carols blare from loudspeakers and spectators scurry to secure a good spot as America’s largest horse-drawn carriage parade gets under way in downtown Lebanon, Ohio (pop. 16,962).

In its 18th year, the Horse-Drawn Carriage Parade and Christmas Festival offers the perfect nostalgic ride through an antique store-lined town that fills with horse lovers and Christmas revelers on the first Saturday of December.

“When it gets close to the parade, everybody is talking about it,” says Ginger Blair, who works at Hardy’s Bed & Breakfast Suites. “All 16 of our guests are coming to the parade, and (the next day) they will book their rooms for next year.”

Two parades—at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.—offer two different experiences. The daytime procession spotlights the unique features of all 120 carriages and their horses, while the evening parade features the carriages adorned with dazzling lights. To enhance the nighttime festivities, students at Lebanon High School sell candles along the parade route, adding to a spectacular display of lights as new and vintage carriages from Ohio and neighboring states roll through the streets.

“It was during the second year that somebody passed out candles near The Golden Lamb (Ohio’s oldest hotel), and they lit them and sang ‘Silent Night,’” recalls Emmor Baily, 80, who helped found the parade in 1987.

“The first year, we had 18 participants,” he says. “It was 5 below zero that morning, and there were 6 inches of snow on the ground. The scenery was just beautiful.”

As the years passed, so did the parade. One year, period costumes were added; another year brought bells, bows and lights, and each year the number of horses and carriages grew. Today, horses often are adorned with red bows and garland as they pull restored postal wagons, old-fashioned meat wagons and an array of other carriages. Lebanon, platted in 1802, is a fitting backdrop, and the festivities draw about 70,000 people annually.

“The parade and festival were created to encourage people into downtown Lebanon to discover the specialty and antique shops,” says Sara Arseneau, executive director of the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, which oversees the event.

“Saturday of the festival is one of our biggest days all year,” says Joy Kossouji, owner of downtown’s Golden Turtle Chocolate Factory. “The festival brings people from all over Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, and it is great advertisement for us.”

In spite of all the hoopla, a sense of camaraderie prevails among participants. Most are devoted horsemen and women who haul their animals and buggies via trucks and trailers. On Saturday morning, the Lebanon Education Association serves breakfast to participants, a tradition that began in 1988 when Baily cooked 18 gallons of chili for the carriage owners.

Sue and Larry Baughman, of Utica, Ohio (pop. 2,130), have ridden in 14 parades. Two 3-year-old draft ponies pull their green and gold carriage. “It’s hard to wash the horses and clean them up in this cold weather,” Larry says. “But this parade is so well organized, we wouldn’t miss it.” Every year the couple enjoys the breakfast, and Sue takes time to shop downtown. “The people of Lebanon are very good to us,” she says.

The parades are the heart of the festival and strong local participation reflects community pride in the festivities. “This parade is really about the spirit of Christmas,” Arseneau says. “It takes the entire community to make it happen.”

Lori B. Murray is a freelance writer in Columbus, Ohio.

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