Christmas cheer lights up chilly Kenai evening

Kenai’s Frontage Road on Friday evening was aglow with Christmas lights, inflatables and music, as the annual Christmas Comes to Kenai celebration closed with the Electric Lights Parade and fireworks show.

Though it was a cold winter’s night in Kenai, hundreds lined the road to see the parade — to pick up candy, wave to Santa Claus and admire the light shows put on by each passing float.

The Kenai Peninsula Outdoors Club designed a float that showcases their summer exploits — a tent, chairs and lantern aglow with colorful Christmas lights.

The club, which has been around for 30 years and has a couple hundred members, celebrates the local recreation opportunities, Rusty Swan said on Friday. That’s camping, playing in the snow, otherwise getting outdoors — right now it’s a lot of skiing.

The Kenai Marching Band was among the first participants of the parade to be seen by the eager attendees — lighting up the night with their music.

Natalie James, one of the performers, carried and played a large brass instrument as part of the band. Performing in the parade isn’t like most of the showings for Kenai’s marching band, she said, because it’s cold and dark. They have to be even more aware of their surroundings and keep their instruments from getting too cold.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said.

The very last vehicle in the procession was a Kenai Fire Department engine atop which rode Santa Claus, waving brightly to the children below.

Where the parade concluded, in the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center parking lot, a blazing fire awaited the large crowds and only minutes later fireworks filled the sky.

For more information about the parade or Christmas Comes to Kenai, find the “Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center” on Facebook.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.