Festival day was planned around parade

The Christmas in the Heart of Downtown Harlem will be Saturday and continues to expand with each holiday season.

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"The festival just seems to grow a little more each year," said Denise Carter, a coordinator. "It's really taken off."

The sixth annual festival will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with Christmas crafts and food vendors lining the streets downtown. There will be activities for children in the "kid zone," Carter said.

The city's Christmas parade will begin at 11 a.m. and last about an hour, she said. The parade will start at Harlem Middle School on West Forrest Street, turn on Milledgeville Road, continue on Louisville Road and return to the middle school.

"We've done the parade for several years," Carter said. "About six years ago, we decided we were going to try to make a festival out of the day just because the parade was so big and so many people came for it."

Carter said the parade usually draws about 75 entries, including floats, fire trucks, vintage cars, and marching and drill teams.

The festival attracted large crowds last year, she said.

"We had really great weather last year and just a ton of people showed up," Carter said. "We couldn't keep people out of the streets to clear them for traffic."