The Square turned into a winter wonderland on Monday as the annual Christmas Parade made its way around town.

Oxford’s annual event to welcome the holiday season continued to draw in big crowds as they gathered around the Lafayette County Courthouse, North and South Lamar and University Avenue. This year marked the second year that the City of Oxford was in charge and the second year the parade route was reversed to help manage the growing numbers of participants.

“On behalf of the North Central Mississippi REALTORS, I want to thank everyone who participated in this year’s Oxford Christmas Parade,” said Linda Allgood in a statement sent out Tuesday. “We had a great turnout, a lot of hard work that went into the entries, and Santa and Mrs. Claus to usher in the holiday season.”

Ole Miss baseball head coach Mike Bianco and his wife, Cami, were this year’s Grand Marshals.

The parade is always a spectator event that brings families to line the route, which begins near the Gertrude C. Ford Center on The University of Mississippi campus and rolls down University Avenue before turning north toward the Square and eventually ending at the new Ulysses “Coach” Howell Activity Center.

For some, the parade is just a part of a much greater family Christmas tradition. The parade route goes right by Ferriday Mansel McClatchy’s home. McClatchy hosts a Christmas parade party to celebrate the parade, which was initially started by her parents in 1993.

“The Christmas Parade is my favorite Oxford holiday tradition, and we’re fortunate enough that it goes by our house,” McClatchy said. “(The party) is come and go, bring a friend or food if you want. This is our 26th year, and we are on our third generation of spectators. It’s fun to see how the parade has evolved over the years and we love to visit with old and new friends.”

Dozens of floats were entered into the parade, ranging from MS Critterz to the Oxford Police Department and several other organizations and businesses in between.

This year’s winning float was The Polar Express, by Shop Oxford and the Oxford-Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. Second place came from Crossroads Animal Hospital, which had a Christmas Under the Big Top theme. The North Mississippi Regional Center’s One Horse Open Sleigh float, which featured snow falling all around it, took the third place prize.

Clinton Schove’s 1947 Chevrolet, which had a Christmas tree tied to the top, took home the Most Unique Vehicle prize.