The Fayetteville Rotary Club and Rotary International present the 26th Annual Fayetteville Rotary Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 10 a.m. in downtown Fayetteville. The route will begin at the back of the Cumberland County Courthouse and end on Winslow Street.
“The Fayetteville Rotary Christmas Parade has always been a community staple and brings out everyone from all walks of life,” said Brandon Price, chair of The Fayetteville Rotary Christmas Parade committee. “It is the one time of year where all families from everywhere come downtown to witness all of the floats, marching bands, Christmas music, big jeeps, and kings and queens.”
The Fayetteville Rotary Club was founded in Fayetteville on May 1, 1920. The Rotary International Club was founded in 1905 in Chicago by attorney Paul Harris. The term “rotary” comes from the practice of early members who rotated their weekly meetings among their different businesses. Harris and his friends would get together at each other’s businesses and talk about what kinds of things they could do in the community.
“For example, if I put my resources with your resources and a couple of other people’s resources, then no one person has to do everything if we all do something,” said Price. “Over time, this has taken on a different meaning and has come to be community leaders coming together every week, and we invite people from the local community to the meeting to tell us what is going on in the community and how we can improve it.”
Price added, “That is the purpose of Rotary, which is business leaders and community leaders coming together to serve together and to do service before self.”
The 2025-2026 theme for Rotary International is “Unite for Good.” It emphasizes bringing people together to work towards positive change and addressing global challenges. The theme encourages members to unite across backgrounds, strengthen connections and collaborate on service projects to create a meaningful impact worldwide.
“I call Rotarians quiet heroes because they don’t usually promote all the things that they are doing,” said Price. “They just do the things that need to be done.”
The parade, which has been a holiday tradition since 1999, will feature Rotary International District 7730 Governor Andrea Young, Mayor Mitch Colvin and his wife, City Council members, county officials, city personnel, local library mascots, dance groups, local marching bands, motorcycles, horses and jolly old Santa Claus.
The highlight of the parade is the high school marching bands.
“All of the Fayetteville High School marching bands are participating, and this year we will also have Lumberton High School and Hoke County High School marching bands,” said Price. “Most of these high schools are award-winning high schools, and I would be remiss if I did not say that one of the most well-known bands from our local community that always helps us wrap up the parade is E. E. Smith High School’s Magnificent Marching Machine.”
He added, “It is super exciting when E. E. Smith’s band performs; it is must-see TV. Not everybody can make it to a high school football game, but everybody gets to come out to the Rotary Christmas parade.”
The Fayetteville Rotary Club started a new tradition this year by selecting an individual and a community organization to lead the parade. This year’s grand marshal is the recently retired and prominent Roosevelt Pratt, Jr. and the Salvation Army of the Sandhills.
“Mr. Pratt is the former band director of E. E. Smith for 28 years and has played an integral role in so many kids going to college and becoming a part of bands all across the country,” said Price. “Twenty-seven of his graduates have gone on to become drum majors at their respective HBCU schools, and we are very excited to honor his legacy, the work he has done to draw attention to musicianship, and we believe in giving people their flowers while they are still here.”
It is imperative to have top-notch security at the parade, especially to prevent accidents.
“A couple of years ago, accidents took place in a couple of parades in North Carolina. We beefed up security every single year, working together with the City of Fayetteville, the city police, and the Fayetteville Jeeps Club,” said Price. “They have a ton of jeeps that will come through, and they have somehow become the staple part of the parade because we send jeeps two by two behind every walking entry to protect that entry from any loose or runaway cars.”
Price added, “This is one of our ways that we try to target safety as a main issue for our walking groups to include our bands.”
It takes a lot of moving parts to plan a parade, and Price enjoys every moment of the process.
“This will be my 5th year chairing the parade committee, and every year I say that I am not going to do it next year,” said Price. “Something will happen at the parade that makes me see that this is why we serve, and my goal is for all the little boys, little girls and their families to come out and have a good time for that two-hour window and for everything to be close to perfect.”
The parade is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.fayettevillerotaryclub.org.