The 2025 Wells Christmas Parade was supposed to run north on Route 1 on Sunday, December 14. That weekend a winter system dropped a few inches of snow across southern Maine, and the parade was canceled. As the Portland Press Herald reported, the Wells Chamber of Commerce then announced a "reverse" parade for the following Sunday from 1 to 2 p.m. at Wells Harbor Park. Floats, businesses and music groups would line the road through the park while visitors drove past in their cars. The Chamber put the make-up date on its calendar as Sunday, December 21, 2025.
Moving the parade there made sense. The Town of Wells already holds its Holiday Tree Lighting at Harbor Park, so the backup plan sent the parade to the same lawn where the town lights its tree. This year the parade is back on its usual Sunday and its usual road. The 40th Annual Wells Christmas Parade steps off at 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 13, 2026. A December weekend in Wells takes place in two spots: Harbor Road, where the tree lighting has been held in recent years, and the stretch of Route 1 the parade needs on Sunday afternoon.
The mile and a half that closes at 1:30
The official parade route runs about 1.4 miles. It starts at Wells Plaza and goes north on U.S. Route 1 to Wells Junior High School. Organizers close two approaches before step-off so the parade can move without stopping, and they ask spectators to arrive early.
| Road | Section closed | Timing on December 13 |
|---|---|---|
| Chapel Road | Between Route 9/109 and Route 1 | About 1:30 p.m. until the parade ends |
| U.S. Route 1 | Between the Route 9/109 intersection and Wells Plaza | About 1:30 p.m. until the parade ends |
| Parade route | Wells Plaza north on Route 1 to Wells Junior High School | Step-off at 2 p.m. |
Anyone running errands on the southern end of town that Sunday will feel those closures. Once 1:30 passes, getting between the Route 9/109 corner and Wells Plaza means waiting for the parade to finish. The Chamber's 2026 listing gives the same 2 p.m. step-off.
This stretch of Route 1 is also on the state's paving list. MaineDOT's project schedule, refreshed November 2, 2026, includes two Wells Route 1 paving jobs set to be advertised for bids on December 23, 2026. One is a mill-and-fill section starting just north of Harbor Road. The other is a thin overlay running 3.67 miles north from just south of Tatnic Road. MaineDOT notes that its dates can change, and an advertisement date is not the date construction starts. For this December, the parade uses Route 1 as it is now.
Who leads it north this year
The parade's grand marshal record reads like a list of people known around town. For 2026 the Chamber has named Gary Leech and Ken Creed. The grand marshal page lists the recent years:
- 2026: Gary Leech and Ken Creed
- 2025: none listed
- 2024: Dave Johnson
- 2023: Patsy Bragdon
- 2022: Kathy Wright
- 2021: Jo-Ann Putnam, Wells Police Chief
The empty 2025 entry follows from the snow. The reverse parade had nowhere for a grand marshal to ride, and the parade's own winners page lists 2025 judging as "N/A." That makes Leech and Creed the first grand marshals to lead the parade up Route 1 since Dave Johnson in 2024.
The winners page also shows who has been building floats. In 2024 the top three were Everett's Auto, A Joyful Noise Preschool and Congdon's Doughnuts. In 2023 they were A Joyful Noise Preschool, York County Pediatric Dentistry and Harborside Dental, and The Brown Family. A Joyful Noise Preschool placed in the top three both years. That mix of a garage, a doughnut shop, a preschool, a pair of dental offices and one family is typical of who enters.
Free to enter, paid for by neighbors
Entering the parade costs nothing. The Chamber accepts families, youth groups, civic groups, businesses and individuals. Applicants download the form, or request it by phone or email, and mail it to the Wells Chamber of Commerce. Floats and presentations are expected to fit the holiday. The 2026 Parade Participation Form and the sponsorship information are both linked from the Chamber's event listing.
Local sponsors cover the cost. The parade site lists Kennebunk Savings, the Rotary Club of Wells Maine and D.F. Richard Energy as silver sponsors. Its Friends of the Parade are Kathy and Butch Chase, Nancy Hafford-State Farm Agent, NetVision Technologies, S.O.S Maine and TC Hafford Basement Systems. The parade is free to watch and free to enter because a bank, a service club, a fuel dealer and a handful of local families and businesses pay for it.
Saturday belongs to Harbor Road
The Town of Wells has paired its tree lighting with the parade weekend. In 2025 the 6th annual Holiday Tree Lighting and Caroling was set for Saturday, December 13, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Wells Harbor Community Park, 331 Harbor Road. That was the day before the parade's original Sunday date. The town's description gives the program in order. Members of Seacoast Bible Church led carols at 4, with cocoa and lyric sheets provided. Santa led the tree lighting at 5. After that came a meet and greet with Santa and with the Wells Fire and Police departments, plus cookies and s'mores by the fire pit. The event was free and open to all ages.
The year before followed the same plan. The 2024 listing put the 5th annual lighting at the same park on Saturday, December 14, 2024, with caroling at 4 and the lighting at 4:45.
So Harbor Park already had a holiday crowd and a tradition when snow closed Route 1. A drive-by line of floats there the next weekend fit with what the park already hosted. The tree lighting has grown into its own tradition in six years, and the parade, now on its 40th, relies on that park as its fallback.
The weeks on either side
The parade sits in the middle of a busy stretch of the Wells calendar, and a few dates fill the weeks around it.
- Monday, November 23, 4:30 to 6 p.m.: A Full Moon Walk at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm.
- Tuesday, December 8, 5:30 to 7 p.m.: Books & Bingo in the Community Room at Wells Public Library, 1434 Post Road.
- Sunday, December 13, 2 p.m.: The 40th Annual Wells Christmas Parade, Wells Plaza to Wells Junior High School.
- Tuesday, December 15, 6 to 7 p.m.: A Gathering of Celtic and Christmas with Jeff Snow, also in the library's Community Room.
There are also two new places to eat this season. Ani's Bagel Café is open at 175 Depot Road. Its website lists the Wells café as open daily from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., so it is open the morning of the parade.
Posta is a new Italian restaurant at 60 Mile Road. Co-owner Ian Miller told the Portland Press Herald in late October that it was slated to open by mid-November. The building briefly housed Battery Steele Kitchen + Bar and before that was the longtime home of Varano's Ristorante Italiano. Miller explained the choice to the paper this way:
"We haven't had an iteration of an Italian restaurant in Wells since Varano's closed (about four years ago). We felt it fitting to revive that in that building to fit the need of the area."
If the forecast holds on December 13, the parade will leave Wells Plaza at 2 p.m. and finish about 1.4 miles north at Wells Junior High School. Chapel Road and the southern stretch of Route 1 will close from about 1:30 until it ends.
The agents at Legacy Sotheby's International Realty follow Wells through the whole year, from the summer crowds on Mile Road to the December Sunday when Route 1 closes for floats. If you have questions about life in Wells, or a home within sight of the parade route, we would be glad to talk them through with you. Work With Us.
