Irmo's Christmas Parade Moves to Saturday Night This Year, and the Rest of the Week Shifts Around It

Last December, Irmo's first Christmas parade went down St. Andrews Road at 9 in the morning. The road closed at 8:45 a.m., the judges sat at Fully Promoted at 7249 St. Andrews Road, and Artistic Aspirations on Woodrow Street ran an Alsies of Columbia coffee truck in its parking lot for early arrivals. WACH reported that crowds lined the route for floats, marching bands, local businesses and Santa. The New Irmo News noted that spectators came out despite the weather.

For year two, the parade moves to after dark. The 2026 Irmo Christmas Parade steps off at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, December 5, as a lighted night procession. The new time changes more than the parade. A 5:45 start puts it right next to the opening hours of a holiday tradition that has run in Irmo since 1994, so Saturday, December 5, becomes the one night when most of the town's holiday events happen in a single evening.

The week starts Tuesday at a park with a new name

The first event of the week is the Irmo Tree Lighting on Tuesday, December 1, at 6 p.m. at the gazebo in Whitt Cline Community Park, 7330 Carlisle St. The Town's event page lists choirs and bands, a greeting from the mayor, Santa, and pizza, hot chocolate and cookies.

If that park name is new to you, it's because the park is. Until this spring it was Irmo Town Park. Town Council adopted Resolution No. 26-04 unanimously on March 24, 2026, to rename it for Whitt Cline, the Town's retired Public Services Director and arborist, and the new sign went up on April 15. The Town credits Cline's 25 years of work with Irmo's first Tree City USA designation in 2009, which it has kept every year since. This is the first tree lighting under the park's new name. In the Town's announcement, Mayor Bill Danielson said:

"It is a great honor and privilege to name our former Irmo Town Park after Whitt Cline. Whitt has been a dedicated servant to this community for over two decades. His expertise in managing the beauty of our parks and public spaces is unparalleled, and his passion will now be remembered here forever."

Tuesday is a weeknight, so the evening is short and close to home. The bigger night comes four days later.

Saturday's parade, now after dark

The HIS Radio family calendar listing sets out the 2026 details. The theme is "Bright Lights, Warm Hearts." The route starts at Crossroads Middle School, runs down St. Andrews Road and ends at Irmo Elementary School. Erika Glover of WLTX is back as emcee, and state Rep. Nathan Ballentine is grand marshal. The listing calls this year's format "an exciting twist" and invites groups and businesses to "get their lights ready."

The Town calendar gives the parade a window of 5:45 to 7 p.m.

Here is the full week on one page:

Why Saturday night now holds two traditions

Union United Methodist Church calls The Living Christmas Story a free drive-through nativity. Families stay in their cars and follow a one-third-mile route through church grounds set up as Bethlehem. According to the event's site, the church at 7582 Woodrow Street has put it on every year since 1994, and this year it runs December 4 through 6, 6:30 to 9 p.m. The Town's own calendar lists it on December 5 alongside the parade.

When the parade started at 9 a.m., a family could do both on the same Saturday, but the two events were most of a day apart. This year the parade's scheduled end at 7 p.m. comes 30 minutes into the nativity's three-hour window. If you watch the parade, you can be in the drive-through line the same evening and still have up to two hours before the 9 p.m. close.

A few practical points for that Saturday:

• Watch the parade first. It has a fixed start and a set route. The Living Christmas Story is open until 9, so it is the event with room to wait.
• Plan on traffic. With a parade on St. Andrews and a drive-through line forming at the church, the 7 p.m. hour may be the busiest of the evening on nearby roads. Families who want a quieter visit can use Friday or Sunday, which keep the same 6:30 to 9 p.m. hours.
• Keep an eye on the Town's event page. The Town posts its Facebook event for the parade, and the Town office number on the listing is 803-781-7050.
• Bundle up. Last year spectators dealt with weather at 9 in the morning. A December parade at 5:45 p.m. ends after dark, so dress for the evening.

If your group would rather ride than watch

Entries are open now through the Town's parade application, and the deadline is Friday, November 20, about two weeks after this post. The Town says late applications may be considered if space remains. The application lists the fees and says they help cover police services, portable restrooms and route cleanup:

• $200 for political campaigns and candidates, including incumbents who are campaigning
• $100 for commercial or business entries
• $40 for beauty pageant entries
• $25 for nonprofits, with proof of 501 status
• No fee for school-sanctioned groups, including marching bands, athletic teams, service clubs, cheer squads, drill teams and ROTC units

You will need to describe your entry, including how many vehicles, floats and walkers you plan to bring and how long each vehicle is. Get those numbers settled before you open the form.

The night format also changes how you build. Last year's floats only had to look good in daylight. This year the theme is about light, and the parade runs into the dark, so a float that looked finished at 9 a.m. could disappear on St. Andrews Road at 6:45 p.m. Plan your lighting early and test it after sunset before parade night.

One local option for supplies is a new store on Broad River Road. The State reports that Bowers Ace Hardware plans a soft opening on Monday, November 9, at 10546 Broad River Road, with a grand-opening celebration from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 21. The paper describes a 14,000-square-foot store with a 5,000-square-foot garden center, carrying hardware, garden supplies, paint including Benjamin Moore, and grilling equipment. It will be the company's sixth South Carolina store, along with locations in Cayce, Columbia, Lexington, Elgin and Johns Island. Under that schedule the store opens its doors on November 9, close to four weeks before parade night, and holds its grand opening the day after parade entries are due.

Putting the week together

For an Irmo household, the calendar reads like this. Tuesday evening at Whitt Cline Community Park for the tree and hot chocolate. Saturday at 5:45 on St. Andrews Road for the lighted parade, then over to Woodrow Street for the nativity before it closes at 9. If your group is entering the parade, the application is due November 20, and a day of float building in between fits easily.

This is only the parade's second year, and the evening format is new. When the Town of Irmo announced the first parade, it said it hoped the event would become "a cherished Irmo tradition for years to come." Moving it to Saturday night puts it alongside a tradition that has been running on Woodrow Street since 1994.

I've been selling homes full time in this part of the Midlands since 2014, more than ten years before Irmo held its first parade. If you're thinking about a move closer to St. Andrews Road, or just want to know how Irmo's holiday calendar keeps changing from year to year, Bill Prebeck is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.