Sonora Christmas Parade Officially Canceled Due To COVID-19

Photo taken by: :Leslie Davis

Sonora, CA — City of Sonora officials had been trying to develop a scaled-back “drive-by” parade through the city streets in-leu of the popular Christmas Parade.

Parades and the correlating road closures are not currently allowed in California due to COVID-19 restrictions. We reported earlier that city officials were creating a conceptual plan to have a select number of vehicles drive through city streets together to help spread holiday cheer, without closing any roads.

However, Sonora City Administrator Mary Rose Rutikanga relays, “Unfortunately, with the move to the purple tier, we just can’t under good conscious, and with the guidelines from public health, go forward with any type of Christmas Parade this year.”

The big concern is that too many people would congregate to watch the event.

Other communities, like Twain Harte and Murphys, have also canceled plans for annual Christmas parades and the correlating downtown activities, this year.

The parade was one of the topics that City Administrator Rutikanga spoke about on Mother Lode Views this past weekend. You can find the show archived here.