MONGTREAL, November 23, 2025 — The 2025 Christmas holiday season in Montreal kicked off in a festive, colourful manner on November 22 with the 73rd annual Santa Claus Parade.
A true Québec tradition proudly returning to downtown Montreal after a two-year hiatus, the Santa Claus Parade is the oldest event of its kind in the province. Each year, it draws thousands of spectators who come to celebrate the holiday spirit in the heart of Montréal.
This year’s “Parade Star Fairy” — boxing champion Kim Clavel
Thousands of people of all ages lined up along the route that ran through Rene Levesque Boulevard West between Drummond and St.Urbain streets, as they witnessed the procession that included eight full-sized floats, two mini-floats and eight themed performances, as well as marching bands and dancers from Montreal’s many ethnic communities.
The Grinch FloatThe GrinchConcordia University Cheer TeamGriswold Family Station WagonMontreal FireMarching BandThis year’s “Parade Star Fairy” — boxing champion Kim ClavelSanta Claus FloatMrs. Claus Float Shriners Hospital float.L’ Orchestrarium float
All photos by Stuart Nulman
Also on hand were a number of special guests, including Habs mascot Youppi!, the Grinch, singers from the hit TV show Star Academie, Montreal registered nurse and boxing champion Kim Clavel—who was deemed as this year’s Star Fairy of the parade, and of course, Santa and Mrs. Claus.
L’ Orchestrarium float
The parade was sponsored by Montreal Centre Ville, Tim Hortons, Complexe Desjardins, Coca-Cola, the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Rythme 106.7, CKOI 96.9, The Beat 92.5, the Montreal en Lumiere Festival, Tourisme Montreal and the Government of Quebec.
Stuart Nulman having a cocktail with Ernest Hemingway
Stuart Nulman was born and raised in Montreal. He began his journalism career in 1980 as an entertainment reporter/reviewer for the Vanier College student newspaper. Two years later, he worked as a summer student intern at CBC Montreal, where he worked in the English TV news division, CBC Radio and CBC Communications. During the late 80s, he worked as an assistant copy editor and columnist for The Suburban Newspaper for three years, and then joined the staff of the Hampstead/Weekly Herald before it closed in 1991. Stuart also worked as a comedy researcher/writer for the Just For Laughs festival, where he was responsible for creating and editing the festival's entire advertising and program book copy for the 1994 edition, as well as providing background research about comedians who performed there. After a seven-year stint as a technical editor for the flight simulator company CAE Inc., Stuart returned to the world of journalism, writing book reviews, covering the Montreal summer festival scene, conducting celebrity interviews and writing travel pieces for a number of platforms, such as the Montreal Times, BestStory.ca (a long form journalism website), and his blog Stuart Nulman's Grapevine. As well, since 2009, he does a book review segment called "Book Banter", which is heard twice a month on The Stuph File Program with Peter Anthony Holder podcast, which evolved from the segment of the same name he did for 19 years on CJAD's "Holder Tonight/Overnight" program. He also authored the book "Beyond the Mountain: True Tales About Montreal", which was published in 2002 and was a local bestseller, which peaked at #2 on the Gazette's nonfiction best seller list. Stuart is currently semi-retired after working for 20 years at the English Montreal School Board (EMSB), and still writes articles, reads and reviews books, and travels more frequently.
