The 2023 Children’s Hospital New Orleans Holiday Parade is back with a new route

The Children’s Hospital New Orleans Holiday Parade will be back for a second year, on Dec. 2, with a different route, more throws and a post-parade party featuring Trombone Shorty. Santa is, of course, expected to ride on his sled, mounted on a special float.

Plus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and eight other giant, Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade-style balloons will be back, despite some pesky problems last year. 

Details of the second annual parade were announced during a press conference at Mardi Gras World on Thursday morning. 

Last year, balloons for Hanukkah, along with seasonal icons such as Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman and the gingerbread man, had to limbo precariously beneath traffic lights and streetcar power cables as the parade progressed. Most made it through the entire treacherous trip, though poor Rudolph ran out of gas a bit early.

The need to avoid overhead cables is one reason the 2023 holiday parade route is different from the original route. The St. Charles Avenue leg of the route has been replaced with a stretch of Tchoupitoulas Street.

Fitz Kern of parade producer Kern Studios said the route change has other benefits as well. The Tchoupitoulas Street path is meant to be less disruptive than last year's St. Charles Avenue route, and the longer route will accommodate more spectators. 

Like last year, the parade will conclude with a party at Lafayette Square, featuring a free concert by hometown hero Trombone Shorty.

This year’s parade will feature more than 25 specially designed floats — slightly more than last year — augmented by bands, dance troupes and other elements.

Unlike Carnival, during which commercial advertising is prohibited, the floats in the holiday parade are sponsored by businesses and organizations. All proceeds from the parade benefit Children’s Hospital.  

Children’s Hospital CEO Lou Fragoso said attendance at the first holiday parade exceeded expectations, and throws were in short supply. So this year, he vowed, float riders will have triple the amount of beads, plush toys and such.

At 11 a.m., the parade will begin near the corner of Elysian Fields Avenue and Decatur Street, as it did in 2022, and proceed through the French Quarter along Decatur Street, branching left on North Peters Street.

Like last year, it will turn right on Canal Street and continue to St. Charles Avenue. But instead of attempting to reel the balloons down to earth in order to head uptown on St. Charles Avenue, the parade will U-turn on Canal Street, returning to Tchoupitoulas Street before it heads uptown. 

The parade will turn right on Julia Street and right again on Camp Street, concluding at Poydras Street, near Lafayette Square.