Anderson has announced a Christmas Parade & Celebration.
Broderick has long ties to Anderson. The city says he is a lifelong resident, graduated from Anderson High School and Ball State University, and practiced law for 36 years before being elected mayor. He was elected mayor in 2015 and began serving on Jan. 1, 2016. The mayor’s official biography also notes his earlier service on the Madison County Council.
Santa is scheduled to arrive.
Dickmann Town Center's listed amenities include a playground, water, picnic areas and an outdoor stage. The city’s facility listing places it at 12th Street and Meridian Street.
Anderson Downtown Historic District
The Christmas parade has become something families build their holiday plans around. The city's annual parade is described as a tradition for Kim VanBuskirk and her family, according to the same report from heraldbulletin.com covering last year's event.
The Anderson Downtown Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, includes Meridian Street from 10th Street toward the former Conrail rail line. The district’s documented areas of significance include architecture, commerce and transportation. National Park Service records identify the district and its boundaries.
Recent editions of the celebration have leaned heavily on free, family-friendly programming, a pattern the 2026 lineup continues. Visitandersonmadisoncounty.com's rundown of the 2025 gathering noted that Santa's 3 p.m. arrival kicked off an afternoon of free fun that included ice skating, mirroring the free-skating offering now planned for this year.
Community groups have historically turned out in force for the march down Meridian Street. Last year's parade drew participation from the Anderson High School Marching Highlanders and the Anderson Young Ballet Theatre, per heraldbulletin.com's coverage of the 2025 event — and the 2025 procession also featured the Coca-Cola polar bear, the outlet reported separately.
Past Parade Celebrations
The City of Anderson has invited local businesses and organizations to take part in this year's parade, encouraging participants to decorate floats, vehicles, and costumes with holiday lights and add Christmas music to their entries, according to the city's Facebook announcement.
Past celebrations give a sense of what the night might look like once Santa and the floats hit the street. During the 2024 parade, Santa Claus arrived at Dickmann Town Center on a float alongside princesses from Once Upon a Princess, and that year's festivities also included a playground, a photo booth, ice skating, and a performance by the Jolly Juggler, heraldbulletin.com reported at the time.
Exactly when past parades have landed on the calendar has not always been consistently reported. One heraldbulletin.com announcement stated the City of Anderson's Christmas Celebration and Parade would take place downtown on Dec. 7, while a separate heraldbulletin.com report specifically identified the 2024 event as occurring on Saturday, December 7, 2024 — leaving the exact year referenced in the first announcement unclear.
For this year's event, the city has made clear that the Meridian Street parade will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 5, with the mayor's tree-lighting ceremony closing out the night once the floats have passed.
