Parade of Lights postponed to Dec. 6 because of rain

Old Town Cape announced Sunday morning the 24th annual Parade of Lights scheduled for Sunday evening in downtown Cape Girardeau was postponed a week to Dec. 6 because of bad weather.

Old Town Cape spokeswoman Christa Zickfield said Sunday parade organizers are working to ensure as little change as possible for the parade, despite the delay.

"We called each of the participants this afternoon, and they all sounded optimistic," she said of them participating in the parade next week. "Obviously schedules are really crazy this time of year."

She said two or three entrants won't be able to participate, but the bulk of the parade lineup remains the same.

"We're going to call during the week and double-check, but as of right now, we don't foresee a major change," she said.

Old Town Cape made the announcement of the delay on its website and its Facebook page shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday.

Zickfield said the call on whether the event will take place Dec. 6 will be made before 1 p.m. that day.

"We're crossing our fingers, but it should be good," she said.

Bands of showers continued to plague Southeast Missouri on Sunday afternoon into evening.

If weather conditions again turn poor next weekend, the parade will be canceled rather than being postponed again, Zickfield said, but she added Old Town Cape and other organizers are doing what they can to ensure the cancellation doesn't happen. The parade previously has been postponed twice in the last 23 years.

"People should come out next Sunday," Zickfield said. "It won't be any different -- just a date change and hopefully better weather."

tgraef@semissourian.com

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