Pageants and Parades

Christmas Pageants and Parades serve to bind communities during challenging times in history. The fabric of community values becomes threatened during times of war, famine, disease, extreme seasonal changes, seeking new homelands or an economic war. An urgent need for community togetherness rings out in troubled times.

Traditional cultural activities speak about a community’s intrinsic values. Also, the events serve to refresh a community from the challenges of a year past. All creeds and nationalities gather in a non-competitive environment to celebrate the goodness of life. Children learn the value of community and community responsibility.

Beginning in 1905, Eaton’s Store Christmas Parade, Toronto Canada gave the people their first experience of community togetherness in the ice and snow covered streets. Today, known as the Santa Claus Parade it is the longest running children’s Parade. In 1926 Macy’s Department Store New York held a Thanksgiving Parade. The United States of America records the highest number of Christmas Parades, totalling twenty-six major Christmas Parades. Sporned from the Eaton’s Parade, South Australia held its first successful Christmas Pageant in 1933.

A distinctive difference from all other Pageants and Parades, for the John Martin’s Christmas Pageant, was in its composition which reflected the exact meaning of the medieval period interpretation of Pageant – a collective vehicle for celebrative expression of moral plays and stories and includes in its composition, local and current themes, together with historical and worldly events. In 1996 the Pageant was renamed The Credit Union Christmas Pageant following a unique partnership formed between the South Australian Tourism Commission and the sponsoring credit unions of the Credit Union Pageant Company, Savings & Loans, Australian Central, CPS Australia, Police, Powerstate and Satisfac. Together with David Jones (Australia), copyright owner’s of the Magic Cave, the two uniquely dove-tailed charitable Christmas gifts for children has been preserved.

Suburban and regional areas in South Australia developed local Christmas Parades.
They follow after the Credit Union Christmas Pageant which is traditionally held on the second Saturday morning in November. Beginning in the early 1950s, the small hamlet of Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills, has the longest Christmas festival period of 10 days - Lobethal Christmas Lights Festival. The Village ‘Lights On’ and Carols in the Valley begins an enchanting village fair lasting ten days. The finale of the Festival is a Pageant held on Christmas Eve.

Pageants and Parades are preserved by a desire and need from the community they serve.

In times of doom and gloom leave the Christmas lights on and shining throughout the communities.