What Will Take Holidazzle's Place?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Next year, it will only be a story to tell the kids.
After 22 years, those storybook floats are going dark. This is the final season for the Target Holidazzle parade.
The parade's a lot to look at, especially if you've never seen it before. Friday's parade was Alicia Harris' first.
"I heard it's going to be my last, so sad," Harris said.
The news hit Claudia Fuglie especially hard.
"It can't happen, it can't happen," Fuglie said. "It's not good!"
Not only is she here for the end, she was here for the beginning.
"Twenty-some years, you know. I was here when they first started," she said.
The only thing that could stop her is the parade itself coming to a halt. Leah Wong of the Minneapolis Downtown Council says that it's time for a change.
"Yes, certainly a difficult decision, but one that we think is the right decision for moving forward," Wong said.
The Downtown Council and Target put it on each year, and say after this year, the series of parades down Nicollet Mall is officially off.
"We really want to stop and say, 'You know, let's think about is this what we want to continue to do or is there something new and different that we want to be able to bring to Minneapolis and have this community experience?'" she said.
They won't say if the parade is ending for money reasons, only that they want to try something new.
"I'm going to miss it. We've just gotta bring something good back," Fuglie said.
And the council says they will, insisting they're just changing it, not raining on it.
Wong tells WCCO that the new tradition will likely take place in the Nicollet Mall area, and it will be a series of events.
There are still seven parades left to see this year, on Fridays and Saturdays now through Dec. 21.
