St. John's Christmas parade postponed due to foul forecast

St. John's families will have to wait a week to see Santa Claus and the rest of the annual downtown Christmas parade, with organizers postponing the event because of bad weather.

"We have high winds and we're standing downtown right now and they're starting to swirl, and there's going to be a lot of rain. So certainly not very comfortable for participants and definitely not comfortable for spectators," longtime organizer Gaylynne Lambert said Sunday morning.

The forecast of high winds and rain prompted the Downtown Development Commission to push the parade to next Sunday, Dec. 4.

Lambert, who calls herself "the parade CEO Chief Elf Officer" said this is the first time in 12 years they've had to postpone the parade due to weather.

She said people simply will not show up if the weather is awful. Plus, even though the floats are very secure there are still things that can blow off, so it wouldn't have been safe to proceed with the parade.

"You put this much time, effort and energy into an event, as do the people who are participating, and you want people to come here," said Lambert.

"The food sharing association, they need to have their coffers filled. If the people aren't here there's no food and there's no cash to buy the perishables so it's a huge part of the parade and one that we always take into consideration when it comes to the weather."

Thousands of people line key streets in downtown St. John's for the annual parade, which includes floats, dance troupes, performers and community groups, and of course St. Nick himself.

Environment Canada has issued a weather warning for St. John's and area, warning that easterly gusts of up to 100 km/h pose a "significant risk" and could cause damage to buildings, particularly with roof shingles and windows.

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