The 66th annual WRAL-TV Raleigh Christmas Parade is the largest Christmas parade between Atlanta and Washington, D.C.  Approximately 50,000 people filled downtown Raleigh for the parade on Saturday, Nov. 20. WRAL-TV morning news anchors Bill Leslie and Kelcey Carlson hosted the parade, with WRAL’s traffic reporter Brian Shrader serving as street-side reporter. Chart-topping country music star and North Carolina native Jason Michael Carroll was the grand marshal. The parade features more than 100 entries, including bands, fantastic floats, super-sized balloons, marchers, twirlers, entertainers and a special surprise North Pole visitor at the end of the parade. The 1.2-mile parade route starts at Hillsborough and St. Mary’s streets. The parade travels east on Hillsborough Street, turns south at the State Capitol building onto Salisbury Street, then east on Morgan Street and makes its final turn onto Fayetteville Street. Parking in city-owned parking decks and metered spaced in downtown Raleigh is free of charge for the day. Check out some of our awesome pictures!