Sidney Crosby and the Stanley Cup to join Natal Day parade

Three-time Stanley Cup champion and the pride of Cole Harbour, Sidney Crosby, will be taking part in this year's Halifax-Dartmouth Natal Day parade, according to a tweet from his official account.

Parade organizers had been trying to land Crosby and the Stanley Cup as part of the event.

"It's one of the most exciting things that we have heard in years," said Greg Hayward, chair of the parade.

"I have been fielding phone calls from people as far away as North Bay, Ont., who want to come here for their summer vacation and they want to plan it around Sid and the cup and Natal Day."

Crosby to be grand marshal

Crosby will be the grand marshal of the parade.

"He will be in a truck driven by one of his people and he will have a contingent of Halifax Regional Police providing a security net around him and the cup. Once the parade is over, he'll be leaving directly for another appointment."

That means the hockey star will not be taking part in any meet-and-greet activities with fans after the event.

At a press conference earlier this month, Crosby said he will have the cup in his possession for two days, Aug. 6 and 7.

Aug. 7 happens to be the day of the Natal Day parade as well as Crosby's 30th birthday.

Hayward believes that Crosby could bring an additional 25,000 people to the parade. Generally the parade brings out about 35,000 to 40,000 people.

The two previous times the NHL superstar has brought the Stanley Cup back to Nova Scotia there were huge parades through the streets of his hometown of Cole Harbour.

The parade starts at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Novalea Drive and Kenny Street in north-end Halifax. The parade will then proceed down Gottingen Street, cross the Macdonald Bridge and continue onto Alderney Drive in Dartmouth. The parade will then go up Ochterloney Street and finish up on Crichton Avenue in Dartmouth.

"We've got lots of other entries in the parade that deserve recognition too, but Sidney is certainly the highlight," said Hayward.