Downtown Bonham Christmas Parade

The week after the tree lighting, Bonham's courthouse square hosts one of the friendliest parades in Fannin County. Floats from local churches, businesses, civic groups, and schools circle the square under the holiday lights, with bands, fire trucks, and plenty of candy for the kids along the route. The parade typically steps off around 6:00 PM, when the December sky is already dark enough for the lights to do their work.

The square around the courthouse at 101 E. Sam Rayburn Drive is the place to claim a spot. Families line the curb early, and the parade route means you rarely miss a thing no matter where you stand. It is a short, sweet evening, the kind that finishes in time for dinner and leaves the downtown glowing behind you.

The weekend around it

The parade is the opening act for a full Bonham holiday weekend. The next day, Saturday, December 5, the square hosts the Sweets, Spirits & Sparkles holiday market in the afternoon and the Holiday Wine Stroll and Taste of Bonham starting at 4:00 PM. Between the parade Friday night and the market and stroll Saturday, it makes a strong weekend stop less than half an hour from Paris.

Why make the drive

Every county seat around here does the holidays its own way, and Bonham's is worth seeing. For anyone exploring rural property in Fannin or Lamar County, events like this are the social calendar that comes with the address, small-town gatherings where you will actually run into your neighbors. The trip from Arthur City to the Bonham square runs around 20 to 25 minutes, close enough to be an easy habit.