The Billerica Christmas Parade was originally launched in 2020 as an Easter parade, in response to the COVID-19 restrictions. Residents came together and carted the Easter Bunny around town sharing smiles and enlightening the hearts of Billerica during a very tough period of life. Parade participants of that year spent most of the parade with tears in their eyes, as they waived to a fearful town, a mere month after the lockdown started. It was a wonderful day, and the Easter Bunny was happily received by residents of all ages.

As the pandemic continued, the ask came for the Easter Parade team to create a Christmas Parade. With only a few weeks to pull together the details, a few local businesses quickly decorated some trailers and Santa made his debut appearance in the Billerica Christmas Parade on December 19, 2020.

Since its inception, the parade has increasingly grown in participation, support, and excitement. The meaning behind the parade has also changed. While there was a time when Billerica had a need for entertainment to be paraded around town, we realized we needed to understand a new set of reasons why this parade is so important. Was there a need for it still? In 2022, we reviewed our "why” and it was not until after the parade was over that we learned the answer to that question. Our why is YOU - the residents of Billerica. There are so many wonderful people that do good by contributing to life in our small town and the response to the Parade is always positive.

In 2023, we introduce the inaugural Parade Marshal. We felt that this was a way to connect to the hearts and emotions of Billerica by sharing our gratitude for those who give back to the community. Focusing on sharing gratitude has helped to understand the new why of the parade moving forward. In doing so, we decided it was time to make the parade a legit business. We assembled a Board of Director’s, filed the required paperwork, and launched!

Looking ahead, we hope to continue to serve the community by way of a happy moment in viewing the parade. From all of us on the Board of Directors, we wish you a happy holiday season!