RUMFORD — Christmas in the Valley will kick off holiday festivities in the River Valley with the annual parade at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, starting at the Mountain Valley High School.

Registration for the parade, which is sponsored by the River Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Rumford Fire Department, will be open from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m., with a 6:30 p.m. parade start.

Judging of the floats will be promptly at 5:30 p.m.

“Christmas Wonderland” is the theme.

The parade will wind its way from the high school down through Waldo Street, up Rumford Avenue and around the rotary and onto Congress Street, where Santa will wave his hands at the head of Congress Street and the Christmas tree will magically light up. This marks the official start of holiday shopping on Shopper’s Island.

Santa will greet the children after the parade at the fire station.

Anyone interested in having a float in the parade should fill out a parade registration form, which is available at the chamber’s website, www.rivervalleychamberofcommerce.com or by email, [email protected].

There are two categories for the floats; nonprofit/civic and business/commercial. Banners for the winners will be placed in front of the winning floats for the parade.

Christmas in the Valley will continue on Saturday, Dec. 6, with the annual craft fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mountain Valley High School.

Fifty-six crafters and seven home-based businesses will feature their crafts and wares. A $1 donation at the door will help young adults with upcoming activities.

Come early to pick up holiday cookies at the always popular Cookie Walk. The Kid’s Corner, under the supervision of a young adult’s group, will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Children can come and play games.

Need a great Christmas gift? A Longaberger basket filled with gift certificates/cards from local merchants is the new raffle item. Raffle tickets are $1 for one or six for $5. These tickets will be available at the apparel table located near the door at the entrance to the gym.

Proceeds from the raffle go to the scholarship funds for Mountain Valley and Dirigo high schools. Tickets will be available at the Christmas in the Valley booth.

This year’s kitchen will be stocked and run by Relay For Life. Breakfast will consist of doughnuts, coffee cake, coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Lunch offerings include a mouth-watering turkey pie plate with all the fixings, or chili, hot dogs or chili dogs, and homemade apple pie or brownies for dessert.