Whether it’s 4th of July, Veterans Day or Christmas, parades make up a part of the fabric of American life.  I have to say some of my fondest memories of visiting my grandmother were of getting up early to buy potato donuts (“Spudnuts”) that tasted just like warm Krispy Kreme donuts and staking out a spot on the curb waiting for the free candy that was soon to be thrown my way.

I mean really, who doesn’t love men in fez hats driving small cars, the marching bands and the horses?  And the best part of the Christmas parade was Santa high on a firetruck signaling that everything was finished and it was time to head home and watch Superfriends.

A current trend in the parade landscape is nighttime parades. We have been helping folks for years light their sleighs, float, and cars with Christmas lights.

Our 12 volt lights play a part in parades all over the country all year long. In fact, we just received photos from Pat in Olympia, Washington who participates every year in The Toy Run. You can see our story about him and our event here in our design blog.  (He’s the Santa featured in our photo.)

This series of light sets plug right into an accessory plug in your car, truck or motorcycle. Each strand comes with a 15-foot extension wire with an accessory plug on one end and a simple female connector on the other that allow you to skip the cord and run your light strings in series. (Up to 30 strands can be installed in a single run. You’ll just have 30 extension cords left over – keep them for future use.)

The 12-volt lights are DC (not AC). They are engineered to be used with a DC battery or power source. They are rated at a current usage spec of .1 Amps per set. How long they’ll stay on if you are using a stand-alone battery setup is completely dependent on your battery.

If you are a visual person, here is a quick video about these lights that shows that connectors and the wiring.

The LED lenses are “wide angled” shaped – they look like the shape of a wooden pencil eraser. Because the lenses are so small and have an embedded cone shape in the plastic, they throw the most lights of all of our LED shapes.

Each strand contains 20 LEDs spaced 6 inches apart for an approximate lit length of 9.5 feet.

So, if you are planning a night-time parade this year be sure to choose from one of our great colors on either green or white wire. Installation is quick and easy when you don’t have to worry about looking for a 120-volt generator.

And please send us your photos!!  We’d love to raise awareness about your event and frankly, I just like parade photos!