Tonight I took my kids to my hometown in Missouri to see it's night time Christmas parade. It's been about 4yrs since I've seen it last and none of our kids (now 10, 8, and 4) remember seeing it then. The parade meanders through the small town, going a couple miles through the downtown. I've heard from my family members the art of "staking out" spots that has been going on. People placing their huge folding chairs on the public sidewalk so they have the best spot 12-24hrs in advance. I got to experience that tonight, we found a corner to watch where not too many people were and we weren't butting in front of other kids. My wife and I stayed in the back and our kids and other kids were in the front. It wasn't long until I heard grown ass men muttering what good it was for them to put their chair out in advance just for people (kids) to be standing in front of them. Not sure if they were expecting to get the candy too. The moms I saw were encouraging adults to let kids in front, but with these huge chairs blocking everything, you can only get 1 or 2 rows of people in behind the chairs. The Chairmen ended up standing because they couldn't see, leaving their huge chair blocking out other people. I was pretty disappointed but evidently this is a nationwide "thing."

What a disappointment. I didn't want to cause a scene in front on my kids on what should have been a festive event, so I didn't say anything. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth and if this is what going to parades is like now, I'll just stay home and watch CNN.

The town here in PA where I live does a pretty big Halloween parade each year and it’s common to see people doing this 24-48 hours in advance on the streets the parade goes. I’ve seen lawn chairs, patio chairs, soccer chairs, picnic benches, chains and ropes, you name it.

A few years ago we went to a Christmas boat parade right after moving to FL. I haven’t been to a parade in decades so I don’t know what it was like when I was a kid but yeah, people had clearly staked out areas way in advance. I was informed of that the morning of the parade so we went down that morning and were able to find a good spot but it was a pretty good walk from where we parked.

We also were told that parking was going to be insane and that if we wanted to park in the closest lot we’d need to be there hours in advance. I think we ended up getting there 2.5 hours before the parade and the closest lot was already full. We parked in one of the last spots in a next closest lot.

We’ve never gone back and have no plans to. It’s not worth the time and hassle to me.

"Staking out" with chairs is BS. If you want to stand there and hold your spot for 24 hours, that's different. Furniture placement doesn't count.

If I get to the parade ON TIME, and there are empty chairs, they would get moved, tossed aside like trash.

Three years ago the tiny town parade said no more pitching candy from the vehicles and trailers.

Those offering candy had to walk within 6 feet of the curbs and carry the candy much closer to the kids

Seems some tots got mashed under tires when they bent down to pick up the goodies.


We saw one lady put her twin babies on leashes to prevent them from getting mashed.

No incidents have happened in tiny town , all three accidents were up in the big citys

Not in the spirit of Christmas time, I suppose, but those people need those chairs bent over their heads.

I've seen pictures from the 40s-50s of the Santa Comes to Town parade in town with people standing 10 deep shoulder to shoulder in dresses and suits/dress hats. No lawn chairs then... No other firms of entertainment either, most exciting thing in town. We almost went to the St Louis Thanksgiving parade because weather was nice and from what I would see on TV growing up,not many people went to it. It was probably staked out with homeless though. We went yo the zoo because nobody realizes it's open on Thanksgiving and we have the place to ourselves.

Back in the days of the Tour of Missouri Bike race I took my kids to the finale in St. Louis. There were some empty lawn chairs in a prime viewing spots. I asked those standing around them if the chairs were theirs. They said no the chairs have been unoccupied for hours. I moved them back about three feet and stood in the front. When the chair owners arrived they complained that their chairs had been moved. No one around knew anything about it!

Go to the Mummer's parade in Philadelphia and if your ass isn’t in your chair you probably won't have a chair when you show up for the parade.

When we would stake out our spots it involved chairs, every warm piece of clothing we owned, blankets, and a lot of alcohol. The pre parade party started the night before and streched the entire parade route.

Reminds me of cruise ship pool chairs. You could have 100 signs stating no reserving chairs, and people would be throwing towels and books on chairs at 7am.

I feel parades are for communities, but kids are a huge part of it! Seeing the joy and glow on their faces was the best part.

We were lucky. My in-laws house was on the parade route. The family would walk to the corner and sit on a blanket, my father in law and I would sit on the porch and people watch. Might have been a cooler between us for sipping…
I was blessed. My FIL was the nicest, friendliest, most genuine man I ever met! But I guess that’s another story.