Sparkle Youngstown 2024!

Brilliantly cold, massively amazing!

The 2024 Holiday Parade, Light-up Night, and Flea on Phelps was a smashing success! It was truly one of our best holiday events ever with thousands of attendees packing Central Square. It was a chilly night, but everyone braved the cold temperatures to be a part of this amazing event.

There were a record number of participants in the parade this year, with 104 registrants and 14 high school marching bands from all over the Valley! Our Title Sponsor Premier Bank’s annual Strike Up the Band competition awarded all 14 bands with a $1,000 stipend for their schools, and the top three winners won even more money for their efforts. First prize, for the third year in a row, went to Liberty High’s Golden Leopard Marching band. In second place was the Niles Dragons, and the Hubbard Eagles rounded out third. What a gift these talented students are to our community.

The Youngstown Flea on Phelps had an amazing array of beautiful items to suit anyone’s fancy with vendors all up and down Phelps Street. These crafty makers wowed everyone with their wares.

Santa’s workshop at the DeYor Performing Arts Center was a winter wonderland masterfully orchestrated by Smarter Move Talent. The evening was a celebration of our city’s rich artistic heritage, featuring ballet performances, Broadway-Caliber Vocalists delivering soul-stirring songs, the majestic sounds of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, arts and crafts stations hosted by local organizations where children created holiday masterpieces, and of course, free photos with Santa, capturing memories to last a lifetime.

The grandstand sponsored by #1 Cochran, held an amazing array of talent and delivered all the good holiday vibes led by MC and NYC’s own Lex the Entertainer, with performances by Octave’s House Band, Idora & The Wildcats, and the one and only Stan ‘The Man’ Boney singing his 80’s hit “Hang in there Youngstown”! These groups kept everyone merry and bright!

None of this would be possible without our partners! Thank you again to The City of Youngstown, the Downtown Youngstown Partnership, Title Sponsor Premier Bank, Stage Sponsor #1 Cochran, Media Sponsor WFMJ, Holiday Mug Sponsor Platt Insurance & Auto Owners, the Youngstown Flea, 42 Events, Smarter Move Talent, Melanie Clarke-Penella and everyone who made this event spectacular!

What a joyous “Sparkle 2024.” We lit downtown like a beacon and celebrated the season with togetherness and community spirit.

We hope you were able to make the best Parade and celebration our city has to offer! But if you weren’t, here is the parade in it’s entirety! Enjoy!