Registration is open for the Aiken Hoofbeats Christmas Parade, which was formerly known as the Hoofbeats and Christmas Carols Parade.
In addition to a new name, the changes for 2024 include a new downtown route and a move from Saturday to Sunday.
The event, however, will continue to feature horses, ponies and dogs.
It is scheduled to begin at 2 pm on Dec. 15.
Registrations are being accepted online at eventbrite.com, and there also is a registration link on the Aiken Hoofbeats Christmas Parade page on Facebook.
The cost to participate is $30, plus a $3.85 fee.
The staging area for horses and ponies will be at Gyles Park, which is on Park Avenue near the Aiken Visitors Center and Train Museum.
Dog walkers and their animals will gather at the Aiken County Judicial Center on the corner of Park Avenue and Chesterfield Street.
After starting at Gyles Park, the parade will proceed west on Park Avenue. Participants will turn left onto Chesterfield, and the dog walkers and their animals will join the procession.
From Chesterfield, there will be a right turn onto Colleton Avenue, where the parade will pass by The Willcox.
Next will be a right turn at Newberry Street and then a left turn back onto Park Avenue.
From Park, participants will turn right onto Laurens Street.
Then it will proceed north to Barnwell Avenue, where the parade will end.
The lead group will stop at Trinity on Laurens.
After Aiken residents and others expressed concern about the parade’s future on social media, there was a Sept. 10 meeting that involved Aiken City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh, Aiken County Council Vice Chairman Andrew Siders and Equine Rescue of Aiken President and Managing Director Jim Rhodes.
Joining them were Equine Rescue of Aiken Marketing Director Pam Patron and Chief Charles Barranco and Lt. Joe O’Conor of the Aiken Department of Public Safety.
