A downtown “Winterfest,” highlighted by the annual Christmas parade, will get the holidays started in Hogansville on Saturday.

Events are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. downtown.

A “Festival of Trees” will be at 410 E. Main St. Baked Goods, cookbooks and gifts will be available for purchase from noon to 5 p.m.

A gift bazaar featuring Christmas crafts and gifts will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 205 E. Main St.

Hundreds of international nativities will be displayed from noon to 3 p.m. at First United Methodist Church on Main Street.

The Christmas parade will be at 2 p.m. with the theme “Joyous Noel.”

Parade night in West Point and Valley and Lanett, Ala., is Dec. 10. At 6 p.m., the sights and sounds of the floats and bands will again light up West Point’s main street to the new parking lot of Bradshaw-Chambers County Library in Valley, where the parade ends.

A highlight of the lineup will be the Budweiser Clydesdales, harnessed, hitched and pulling a colorful wagon, organizers said.

In West Point, the parade will begin at the intersection of West 10th Street and 3rd Avenue and continue straight through downtown and continue through Lanett and on to Valley.

This year, there is a new end point. The parade will turn right at 33rd Street in Valley and into the new parking lot of Bradshaw-Chambers County Library.

The library will offer special free after-parade refreshments with door prizes and other fun to parade participants and anyone else who wants to stretch the evening a little longer, said library director Mary Hamilton.

“It just seems like a great way to end the parade,” Hamilton said. “We hope everyone will stop by to mingle and enjoy.”

Other new features of the parade will be a special food vendor section in the middle parking lot across from the old Lanett Mill and a special viewing area right in front of the vending spot.

The special viewing area will be in front of the parking lot on U.S. 29 in the area where a marker and several park benches are still located. At this point, performing units such as bands and dance teams may pause to perform for the spectators gathered there. This area will be specially marked and will contain a section for media covering the parade.

In addition to the food vendors in the Lanett lot, restaurants and fast-food retailers located on the parade route are invited to come outside to the front of or beside their businesses to provide “curb service specials” to spectators. There will be no additional business license required for this event and no vendor fee.

The vendor fee for the Lanett location is $35, with $10 off if the vendor is a member of the Greater Valley area Chamber of Commerce. No business license is required. The deadline for signing up as a vendor and paying the fee is Monday.

For those wanting to set up a location in the Lanett vending lot, applications can be picked up now at the Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce at 2102 South Broad Ave. in Lanett or requested by calling (334) 642-1411 or email to ecrowder@knology.net or johnson.olivia@knology.net. Chamber hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

“There is a lot of excitement about this year’s parade because everyone remembers what a big, colorful parade we had last year,” said Chamber President Denise Clark. “So the chamber is building on this to add new features and more fun.”

In West Point, retailers and restaurants will be offering specials during the afternoon and evening of parade day and we’re sure others in Lanett and Valley are expected to join in, Clark said.

“It will be great to have our established restaurants and fast-food locations along the route come outside their businesses to sell their food specials. This will make it easier for the people to buy without missing any parade excitement,” Clark said.