Families flock to 74th Candy Cane Lane Parade in Visalia

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Santas were out in full force at Visalia's Candy Cane Lane parade.

Visalia's Abraham Magana didn't disappoint with his---some might say creative take-on old St. Nick.

Magana's eight-year-old daughter also dressed up for the festive event.

"It's nice out here, good atmosphere, and it's Visalia," Magana said.

All of the Santa costumes worked well with the theme this year-Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree.

More than 90 organizations participated in the parade, from Boy Scouts to marching bands, law enforcement to community leaders.

There were thousands of spectators from around the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

The Guzman's, from Tulare, have been coming for the last six years.

We asked 10-year-old Alizah what she likes about the parade.

"Mostly everything," she replied.

"It makes it nice," said Alizah's mom Lisa Guzman. "Just being from a small town to have stuff like this for the family."

The parade is also a tradition for Mario and Annette Hernandez, and their sons, Ethan and Jacob.

"They love it, they love the marching bands, that's one of their favorites," Annette Hernandez said. "And of course (their) uncle is a firefighter and he's part of the show too."

Mario Hernandez has been coming to the parade since he was a kid.

He feels fortunate that it's still around, so his sons can enjoy it too.

"It kind of preps everything for the holidays," he said. "You know Santa Claus will be in town, so this little guy's looking forward to that. So it's just a great ambiance out here."

If you couldn't make it to the parade, Downtown Visalians has something called Holiday Open House this Thursday, next Thursday, and the Thursday after that.

You can get pictures with Santa, go ice-skating, and even go on a carriage ride.

For more information, click here.