The Holiday Season comes to town

Black Mountain gets in the spirit with Holly Jolly and Christmas Parade

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
December 3, 2022

The downtown streets were packed, Dec. 2 and 3, as revelers ushered in the Holiday Season with Holly Jolly and the Black Mountain Christmas Parade. 

The weekend festivities began Friday night, as crowds gathered along Cherry Street, Sutton Avenue and State Street while local merchants welcomed shoppers throughout the evening. The culmination came Saturday, when a merry procession spread Holiday cheer and candy to hundreds of eagerly awaiting onlookers. 

The merrymaking was ushered in by the Owen Warhorse Regiment Marching Band, which opened each event with a live performance in front of jubilant observers. The Black Mountain Christmas Parade, led by Grand Marshal Belvadene Joliff, a resident of Givens Highland Farms who worked in an aircraft assembly plant in a role symbolized by the cultural icon Rosie the Riveter during World War II, has been a Swannanoa Valley tradition since the early 1970s. The event is presented by the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce.

Joliff was followed by the Owen soccer team, which captured its first state championship in November, and the school’s state champion cross country team. Both squads were greeted by congratulatory fans as they slowly passed through town. 

Nearly 60 entries were included in the parade, which hosted around 1,000 participants along its route from Flat Creek Road to Cragmont Road. 

Photos from the 2022 Black Mountain Christmas Parade and Holly Jolly can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.