Planning to attend the Parade of Lights? Here’s how to do it without going crazy
November 14,2018
Star-Telegram article by Robert Philpot
The GM Financial Parade of Lights, Fort Worth’s annual holiday parade, takes place at 6 p.m. Sunday. In the past, we have seen people park as far away as Montgomery Plaza, a little more than a mile away from the parade route, and walk downtown to avoid traffic and parking nightmares while attending the parade.
Walking is good for you, so we don’t want to discourage that. But there are other ways to keep sane. So here are a few things to know.
First, the parade has a new route: It will start on Weatherford Street, head east, turn south on Commerce Street and proceed to 9th Street. At 9th Street, it will head west, then turn north on Houston Street till it reaches 2nd Street. At 2nd Street, the parade will head a block west to Throckmorton Street, then turn south and conclude at 3rd Street.
There will be no parade viewing on Houston Street between Weatherford and 2nd, or on Weatherford between Henderson and Throckmorton.
Street closures
The parade might be at 6 p.m., but street closures downtown start at noon. So arrive early. It’ll be cool: AccuWeather predicts a high of 54 degrees and that’s likely to drop by parade time.
You might want to know about some of these closures even if you’re not attending the parade. Spur 280, the main downtown entrance from I-35W, will close as early as 4 in the afternoon. Weatherford Street, a major eastbound artery on the north end of downtown, will close from Henderson to Throckmorton Streets, starting at noon. During the parade, Belknap Street (Weatherford Street’s westbound counterpart) will remain open, as will Henderson and North Main Streets.
According to a press release, “guests are encouraged to enter Downtown from the same direction that they will be viewing the parade from.” For a full list of closures, visit https://www.fortworthparadeoflights.org/parade-information/parking-and-access
Parking
The good news is that there is a lot of free parking in downtown Fort Worth on the weekend. But it’s not all free, and some ordinarily free spaces will be off-limits, marked by bagged meters. You can find a big list of parking spots at https://www.fortworthparking.com/downtown
Public transportation
The Trinity Railway Express will operate Sunday-service trains that will transport attendees to and from the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th and Jones Streets.
Social media
The hashtag to use, if you’re social-media inclined, is #ParadeOfLights2018. For updates, visit the Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/ParadeofLightsFW, on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ParadeOf_Lights, and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/paradeoflightsfw. The main website is https://www.fortworthparadeoflights.org