The strip will be taken tomorrow night not by drunk partiers slam dancing in the street but by the floats, animals and bands of Carbondale’s annual Lights Fantastic Parade.

The parade, one of the city’s biggest family events, begins at 6:30 p.m. It starts near the SIUC Recreation Center. It will travel west on Grand Avenue, turning north on Illinois Avenue and proceeding up the Strip to the Town Square Pavilion on the corner of South Illinois and Main Street.

Diane Dorsey, coordinator of the parade, said about 20,000 spectators are expected. She said attendance has grown since the parade’s first year in 1991 when about 8,000 people attended.

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There will be about 75 entries in this years parade, Dorsey said, and more than 45 of these will be floats. Other entries will be as diverse as a jump roping double-Dutch drill team, pom-pon squads and what Dorsey said is an annual favorite in the parade:a miniature horse puling a small sleigh.

Dorsey said it takes about an hour for all the parade entries to pass any given point.

The parade’s name stems from the fact that nearly all the entries have lights on them, Dorsey said. Even band members sometimes put battery-operated lights on their instruments for Lights Fantastic. Most of the floats have hidden generators in them that power their lights, Dorsey said.

She said street lights along the route will be turned off during the parade.

Two other events coincide with Lights Fantastic. Twelve businesses along the parade route and seven more in the Murdale Shopping Center participated in a window decorating contest. Several choirs, including the Southern Illinois Children’s Choir. will perform Saturday afternoon in the University Mall.

Dorsey called the parade a wonderful cooperative effort between all the factions of the community. She estimated that about 1,500 people donate their time to produce the parade.

She said volunteers are needed for scores of different jobs such as keeping children from walking into the route and manually unscrewing all the street light bulbs along the parade route.

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I can’t say enough good things about all the volunteer time people put in, she said.

Any students who want help with parade should call Kathy Lorentz at 453-5714.

Parade attendees may find the following information useful.

n No parking will be allowed along the parade route beginning at 3:30 p.m. Police will begin towing cars along the route at 5 p.m.

n Beginning at 5 p.m., shuttle buses to the Town Square pavilion will run from University Mall and Murdale Shopping Center.

n Grand Avenue between Wall Street and Illinois Avenue will be closed between 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

n Traffic on East walnut Street will be detoured at University Avenue.

n Traffic on Main Street will be detoured at Wall Street.

n Northbound traffic on Illinois Avenue will be detoured at Pleasant Hill Road.