Christmas Parade hits Charlottetown on Saturday

Santa dropped by the CBC studio in Charlottetown on Friday morning to talk get Islanders in the holiday spirit in advance of Saturday's Charlottetown Christmas Parade.

"As long as we can make just one child happy over the season, that's Christmas for Santa," he told CBC Radio's Island Morning.

The parade leaves UPEI at 5 p.m. AT Saturday. It runs down University Avenue to Grafton Street and ends at the government parking lot.

Members of the public are invited to line the parade route and get into the Christmas spirit. Letters to Santa will also be collected along the parade route, as will food for the food bank.

New this year is a parking restriction on sections of University Avenue and Great George Way, plus Grafton, West and Kent streets, Santa explained.

"This year, as of 4 p.m., if you're parked in downtown Charlottetown, you're going to be there until the parade is over," Santa said.

"So you can still park in those spaces, but you won't get out until after I go by."

The parade is expected to wrap up by about 7 p.m. That's local time, not North Pole time.

The weather will be cool and cloudy for the parade, and there could be a little snow on the ground catch the lights from the floats.