Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade delights spectators

The Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade stepped off on Palm Canyon Drive Saturday night, with an estimated crowd of about 100,000 spectators in attendance.

“It’s my favorite time of the year, I love it,” said festival spectator Frank Milkovich who’s been coming to the parade for years, “Well, I’ve been coming here for about 10 years with my wife and I came here my first time in 2000 when I first moved here and now I’m bringing my little girl, hopefully she’ll enjoy it for many years to come,” he said.

The parade started on Palm Canyon Drive at Ramon Road and ended on Tamarisk Road, and featured more than 80 entries of marching bands, huge macy’s-style balloons that included snowmen and Christmas presents, and of course twinkling holiday floats decorated in thousands of colored lights. The entries were judged in various categories, including best float, best band, best small rig and best large rig

“I like the balloons cause I like watching her expression when she gets to see the big balloons, I think they’re really cool,” Milkovich said.

Lisa .Vanderpump of reality television fame, served as the parade’s celebrity Grand Marshal, and David Lyons as community Grand Marshall.

The event really lifted the the Christmas spirit as residents and visitors alike celebrated the joy of the holiday season.

“It’s just good to bring everybody together, it seems like everybody is in a much better mood when they’re all around at Christmas time,” Milkovich said.

“It makes me so proud to see what started out as a gem of an idea, become a huge valley wide event,” said Palm Springs City Council Paul Lewin.