A float with an empty sleigh and nine plastic reindeer sits in a front yard on the east end of town waiting for Santa Clause to arrive.

More than 20,000 lights will soon illuminate the finale float at the Carbondale Lights Fantastic Parade.

Don Snider and Robert Hardin are spending this week working on the Santa float before it rides around Town Square at 6 p.m. Saturday. The parade will start at Mill Street then move to Jackson Street, then to Washington Street and end on Main Street. The designated streets will close at 5 p.m.

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Both Snider and Hardin are city employees partnered with the Lights Fantastic Parade committee, and they are in charge of ensuring Santa’s safety as he majestically makes his way through the route.

This marks the parade’s 23rd year. Each year, the parade is a little different, but a few things remain the same, Cole said. Though there are many different floats and entries each year, the Santa float always makes an appearance.

Each float has to have at least 5,000 lights and only the last float can include Santa Clause, Cole said.

Snider said he built the float 13 years ago for the 10th parade celebration with help from others who were on the parade committee. He said the Santa float would remain in the parade for many years to come.

“I built it to last,” he said.

Snider said the float was built with the help of donations, which continue to pay for each year’s touch-ups. This year, he said, the float is transforming to switch all lights to LEDs.

The float is not completely taken apart each year. The Carbondale Park District is able to store the float in one of the sheds, so there are only minor fixes and set up each year, Snider said.

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Snider said when he first built the float—which features nine reindeer and Santa’s sleigh taking off from a rooftop with a smoking chimney—he only put eight reindeer on the float. He had to make an addition because his son, who was 5 years old then, said it had to have Rudolph.

“I think a lot of the kids look forward to seeing Santa coming down,” Hardin said. “What’s more traditional than Santa taking off from the roof?”

Some of the parade’s floats are sponsored by non-profit organizations, which also rely on donations for construction. Businesses can also have floats as long as they create a Christmas theme and pay a $25 fee. They must adhere to the rule that says advertisement cannot be more than 25 percent of the float design, Roxanne Conley, the Lights Fantastic Parade committee chair said.

Conley said the parade features 20 to 40 floats each year, though they are still unsure of the exact number for this year. She said entries fluctuate because organizations do not know whether they will use their float because of potential bad weather.

Meghan Cole, executive director of Carbondale Main Street and a parade sponsor, said around 10,000 people show up for the parade annually and it has become a tradition for area families.

“Parents that brought their kids to the parade are now starting to take their grandkids,” Cole said.

Cole said there are 60 entries in the parade including dance teams, bands, Shriners and more.

Starting at 4 p.m. chili will be served at the Civic Center for $3 a bowl, and there will be a wreath auction. Live reindeer will be in the town square for children to visit for free, or to take pictures with for a small fee. Other activities for children include Santa letter-writing in the old train depot.

All funds from these activities go toward covering costs for the parade, Cole said.