Floats, dancers, animals, and even feats of derring-do entertain crowds at Solvang’s latest Christmas event

With the Christmas tree lighting done the night before, and Solvang’s Julefest celebration now in full swing, parade entries came down Mission Drive in Solvang, turned down 4th Street and back toward Copenhagen Drive as the Solvang Julefest Parade came through again.

Forty-seven entries gave the audience a little bit of everything. There were your usual floats, many modeled off the Julefest’s 2024 theme of “Gingerbread Dreams.” There were musical and dance performances. There were animals, some regular house pets, one as unusual as a “rein-steer,” escorted by a cowboy-type Santa.

And, as always, there were one or two out of the box. Randy Hargreaves, owner of Solvang Skate Shop and his skateboarding colleagues went down the route with the portable ramps to perform tricks in front of the enthusiastic crowds. Along with them was a friend, John Johnson, riding a motorcycle. When the group made it to the intersection of Mission and Atterdag Road, the group announced it had something special planned.

As Johnson idled his motorcycle in the middle of the intersections, Hargreaves put the portable ramp right next to the vehicle — and about a minute later came speeding up, hit the ramp and went over the cycle’s seat, right behind Johnson to big cheers from the crowd. (And, for good measure, Robby did it one more time).

Fun moments like that is what keeps people coming back every December for Julefest, which is a month-plus celebration of the holiday season, beginning with the tree-lighting in early December and ends with the Christmas tree burning at the mission in early January.

And many of those people aren’t just from the Valley, many come from out of town and just to see the parade.

“We came for the first time last year from LA,” said Victor Tapia, who was there with his family, him and his wife Leilani wearing matching Grinch tops as they waited for the parade to start. “We liked it so much, we decided to come again. Maybe make it a yearly thing.”

One family that has made it an annual trip was the Phipps family from Orange County.

“I think my husband and I first came up here in 2008,” said Susan Phipps, who taking photos in front of the Christmas tree in Solvang Park with husband Michael and their daughter Kinley, 12. “Then Kinley was born and she was just a few months old when we first brought her up here, and we’ve been coming ever since.

“It’s a nice little town and they go all in with the Christmas decorations ever year. It’s really good.”

The audience members aren’t the only ones to enjoy the festivities.

Santa Ynez Valley Family School had a gingerbread house-styled float in this year’s parade that the students helped decorate, making them happy to be so invested in the project, according to Head of School Julianne Tullis-Thompson.

“We got kids to color some cups and put them upside down to resemble gumdrops,” she said. “They did such a great job. And we were able to get a bunch of pencils, and we had students walk the route and give them out when other throwing candy to everyone.”

And then there was Padilla Tile & Construction, whose owners and staff had their own gingerbread house, which they put on the back of one of the business’ truck.

“We decided to start getting involved in events like this,” said the business’ owner Roger Padilla. “We started off with the Danish Days parade in September, and this is our first Christmas one. It’s worked out well.”

“I think we just wanted to be more a part of the community and help out more of the causes locally,” said Roger’s wife Ashley, who was on the back of the float with their kids waving to the crowd. “We all grew up around here, so we want to get more involved.”

There was an added incentive for the Julefest Parade in that the city gave out awards afterward for the best entries in five categories. The winners were:

Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital = Best Family/Group Award
Fossemalle Dance Studio = Best Musical Award
Bethania Lutheran Church, Preschool, and Afterschool = Sweepstakes Award (Best Overall)
Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery = Best Miscellaneous Award
Soto Gutierrez Family = Best Equestrian/Animal Award

For more information on the Julefest events for the rest of the month, go to solvangusa.com/things-to-do/solvang-julefest/