Main Street Greenville is calling on families, farms and clubs to bring their horses, carriages and trucks downtown as the 23rd annual Hometown Holiday Horse Parade returns Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. Horse-drawn carriages, wagons, buggies and riders are all invited to join the procession through downtown Greenville, with a separate lighted truck parade rolling down Broadway the same evening.
The horse parade and the lighted truck parade are both detailed on the event listing at experiencemainstreet.com, which confirms the Nov. 21 date and 7 p.m. start time in downtown Greenville. According to the Daily Advocate, the lighted truck parade also welcomes decorated pickups, SUVs, tractors and commercial vehicles, and it follows the horse parade down Broadway on the same night. Main Street Greenville has coordinated the lighted parade since 2004, and the event has grown into what organizers describe as the unofficial start of the holiday season in Darke County.
A Parade With a Track Record
Per the Daily Advocate's reporting, the lighted parade has drawn thousands of spectators to downtown Greenville in past years and was once named Ohio Magazine's Parade of the Year. The event has topped 100 entries in previous seasons, and organizers say they hope this year's lineup grows even bigger. Lauren Ignaffo, the new executive director of Main Street Greenville, said the parade depends on families, farms and clubs bringing horses, carriages and trucks downtown.
Ignaffo said people should sign up and that Main Street Greenville would love to see their lights on Broadway, according to the Daily Advocate. Her invitation applies to both halves of the event — the horse-drawn procession and the illuminated vehicle parade that follows it through downtown.
Deadlines and Entry Details
Anyone hoping to participate needs to act soon: the signup deadline for both the horse parade and the lighted truck parade is Thursday, Nov. 12, according to Main Street Greenville's event page. Entrants must submit a separate online entry form for each entry, with horse parade forms available at experiencemainstreet.com/p/2026-horse-parade-entry-form and lighted truck parade forms at experiencemainstreet.com/p/2026-lighted-truck-parade-entry-form. The Daily Advocate reports that horse entries should include proof of liability insurance, and that drivers in the lighted truck parade must be 18 or older.
Entrants can also submit a short description for the parade announcer to read aloud at the reviewing stand, per the same Daily Advocate report. Staging information and other event details have not yet been finalized; organizers say they will post that information as it's confirmed, according to the event listing.
Last Year's Disruption
The 2026 event follows a disrupted 2025 parade, when Main Street Greenville canceled the equine portion entirely over concerns tied to an outbreak of Equine Herpesvirus Type 1, as reported by the Daily Advocate. That year's non-equine event was rebranded as the Truck and Tractor Parade, scheduled for Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. and followed immediately by the Christmas Tree Lighting. Horse owners were encouraged at the time to instead enter a truck, tractor, side-by-side or similar vehicle in that year's parade.
Questions about this year's entries can be directed to Main Street Greenville at 937-548-4998. The nonprofit, which supports downtown Greenville, Ohio through revitalization, historic preservation and economic growth, offers additional information at experiencemainstreet.com and facebook.com/mainstreetgreenville.
