GLASGOW – Two events that are typically part of the holiday season in Glasgow have been altered this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the events is the traditional Christmas parade. The Glasgow-Barren County Chamber of Commerce chose last week to cancel the parade because of the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Entertain Glasgow, a city of Glasgow committee that puts on community events, announced plans this week to do a drive-through Christmas parade along Trojan Trail as a substitute event for the traditional Christmas parade that would allow for more social distancing.

Instead of floats traveling along a route lined with bystanders, the floats will remain static and motorists will drive past them starting at the intersection of Ky. 249 with Trojan Trail and ending at the corner with U.S. 31-E.

The drive-through Christmas parade will take place Dec. 12, starting at 5:30 p.m. and concluding at 7:30 p.m.

Entertain Glasgow hosted a Halloween event, Boo-Thru the Park, at Gorin Park that provided an option for families who still wanted to participate in trick-or-treating but desired a safer alternative.

Katie Hawks, co-chair of Entertain Glasgow, said Boo-Thru the Park served as the basis for the idea for the drive-through Christmas parade event.

“We did a random Google search of drive-through Christmas parades and (found) cities across the United States are doing this (during) the pandemic. It’s going to be very popular this year,” she said.

Entertain Glasgow chose Trojan Trail as the location for the drive-through parade because it wanted the event to take place in a section of the city that was not near a residential area in order to keep from having foot traffic and would allow for a continuous flow of traffic.

“We worked closely with the Glasgow PD to find the most appropriate location for that and Trojan Trail was our best option,” she said.

No one will be allowed outside their vehicles during the event.

“Because we are going to have all the vehicle traffic, we’re not going to allow the passing out of candy,” Hawks said.

Entertain Glasgow began sending out registration forms for the event Tuesday. Participants will be allowed to enter only one float. The deadline for submitting registration forms is Dec. 4.

“We are kind of waiting to see how much participation we will get. If we need to, we can cross U.S. 31-E and line up more floats on that side of (Trojan Trail),” she said.

There will be no application or entry fee for the event, but Entertain Glasgow will be encouraging those taking part in the drive-through Christmas parade to make donations to the Glasgow-Barren County Chamber of Commerce.

Floats are to be decorated according to the theme for the event, which is Christmas 2020. Cash prizes will be awarded for an overall winner, as well as first, second and third runner-up positions. The family of Barren County Family Court Judge Mica Wood Pence will choose a family favorite and award the winning float a gift basket.

High school bands will be allowed to take part in the event but will have to follow the social distancing guidelines with band members being at least 6 feet apart from one another, she said.

For more information about the event, visit Entertain Glasgow’s Facebook page or contact the committee via email at entertainglasgow@gmail.com.

The other traditional holiday event that has been altered due to the pandemic is Light Up Glasgow.

The event will be Nov. 27 on Glasgow’s Public Square and will start at 5 p.m.

Typically, the event features Santa’s House in front of the Barren County Courthouse. People are allowed to visit Santa and pose for photographs, but because of COVID-19, Santa’s House will not be available this year.

“The only people we will have on the ground for that is Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, who will stand beside the Christmas tree and wave at people driving by,” said Ernie Myers, a member of the Renaissance Glasgow Committee, the sponsoring organization for the event.

Myers said there will be no one singing during Light Up Glasgow, no one speaking and no gathering of people.

“It’s just going to be someone flipping (on) the lights on the Christmas tree and Santa Claus will be out there waiving to people going by and that’s it,” he said.

Posing for photographs during Light Up Glasgow has been a holiday tradition, but this year, also due to the pandemic, photographs in front of the Christmas tree during the event will be prohibited. Following the event, however, people will be allowed to take pictures in front of the tree provided they practice social distancing, Myers said.