Santa Claus is coming to town with a side of Macon Bacon and new light show

When Santa Claus arrives Sunday in downtown Macon, he’ll have a sizzling sidekick.

The Main Street Macon Christmas parade will feature the familiar man in red and a newcomer to town, Todd Pund, the president of Macon Bacon baseball team.

Pund will serve as grand marshal for the parade that kicks off at 3 p.m. Sunday from Cherry Street Plaza.

After the parade, a new downtown holiday attraction will be unveiled at 6 p.m. in the Poplar Street median.

The Main Street Christmas Light Extravaganza was designed by businessman Bryan Nichols through a Downtown Challenge grant from the Community Foundation of Central Georgia.

Parking will be limited and a number of streets will be closed in downtown before, during and after the parade.

From 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Sunday, no parking will be available on Cherry Street between Fifth and First streets, on First Street between Cherry and Mulberry streets, on Mulberry Street from First Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. from Mulberry Street to Poplar Street.

As parade entries line up, Cherry Street Plaza will be closed 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday and Fifth Street will be closed 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

The parade goes down Cherry Street, turns right on First Street, onto Mulberry Street and down Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Streets on the route will be closed noon-6 p.m. as well as Second Street between Cherry and Mulberry streets and Third Street between Cherry and Mulberry streets.

Until 2:30 p.m., downtown restaurant patrons will have access to Cherry Street from Second Street, drop off passengers and then exit Cherry Street at Third Street.

Parking will be available on Third Street.

This story was originally published November 30, 2017 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Santa Claus is coming to town with a side of Macon Bacon and new light show."