Gwinnett Daily Post

LILBURN -- Not only will Santa be at Lilburn's annual Christmas celebration, but an elf will drop from the sky.

The grand finale to the annual Christmas Parade on Dec. 1 will feature a Santa's elf parachuting into City Park.

The parade, sponsored by the city government and the Lilburn Business Association, begins at 10 a.m. at First Baptist Church and follows Main Street to City Park. Bryan Shepard, the owner of the local Chik-fil-A, will serve as grand marshal.

Leaders are expecting more than 100 decorated floats, tractors and classic cars, along with marching bands, in the hour-long parade.

This holiday season, the parade will act as a a canned food drive, with each parade group asked to donate $35 or one can of food per participant. Plus, the local high schools are participating in a "Battle of the Bands" to see who can raise the most cans. Each school has a designated drop-off date at the Lilburn Co-op, with the band with the most cans winning a cash prize from the Lilburn Business Association.

Information and applications are available at www.lilburnparade.org.