Lebanon native Amber Bunce, who now lives in Tuscaloosa, Ala., said she always makes a point to return home for the annual Lebanon Carriage Parade and Christmas Festival.

Bunce, who managed to sneak in at the last minute to secure a curbside view with her son Thomas, 3, and her niece, Savannah, 3, said she made sure to sit in front of the Picture This store, which is across Broadway from the historic Golden Lamb Inn.

“I like sitting here because I can see them finish around the turn and it’s next to the Village Ice Cream Parlor,” she said.

In addition to getting to see Santa and Mrs. Claus, Thomas said he liked the big brown Clydesdale horses, while Savannah liked the carriage that looked like a princess’ white sleigh.

The sunny and warm December day encouraged the spirit of the holiday season as thousands of people jammed both sides of Main Street and Broadway Saturday afternoon for the first of two parades at the 24th annual Lebanon Carriage Parade and Christmas Festival.

About 120 horse-drawn carriages of all types were paraded along with various types of horses pulling them past the Golden Lamb, which was decked out for the holidays in the historic downtown business district for parades that started at 1 and 7 p.m. Between the parades festivities included carriage rides and holiday fare.

People were were lined up three to five people deep to watch the parade. Some Golden Lamb patrons watched the parade from the veranda overlooking Broadway while a couple of teenaged boys climbed a tree next to the inn to get a better view.

Many people stakeout their curbside spots hours before the parade stops.

Joe Wilson, one of the parade organizers and a parade announcer, said it was the biggest crowd ever for the Saturday afternoon parade, which does not have trucks, tractors or bands — only horse-drawn carriages.

“This really gets you in the Christmas spirit and this is the largest horse-drawn parades in the country,” Wilson said. “This is the only one in the Midwest with just carriages.”

He said in addition to getting everyone into the yuletide spirit, the festival also draws visitors to the city as well as many of those visitors return to shop at the various stores on Broadway.

“The merchants say this is their biggest day of the year for them,” Wilson said as he looked at the crowd from the announcer’s stage. “Look at all of the people having a good time. I enjoy the people and the carriage people love it and the town loves them.”

Lebanon Mayor Amy Brewer said the annual event “brings an energy and enthusiasm as we celebrate the Christmas season … You can see the excitement and joy of children who embody the Christmas season and Lebanon embodies what’s great about this country. Our downtown has never looked so spectacular.”

Bob Haines of the Broadway Antique Mall said the parade provides “a major impact” to stores in downtown Lebanon as browsers were looking over the store’s merchandise.

“We get a tremendous amount of traffic,” Haines said. “Lots come in and see the stores then they come back later. It’s a great downtown because there are lots of things to do and see. This parade gets bigger every year, unless it rains. But this year will be outstanding and we’re way up on business.”

Last year, about 175,000 people attended the daylong event, according officials with the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce. The event was started by the chamber as a way to bring visitors to the city.

Diane Joity of Vandalia said she stood on the east side of Broadway, but after the afternoon parade ended, she moved her chair across Broadway to get a better spot for the evening parade when people left.

“This was my first time and it was very nice,” she said. “The people here were very friendly.”

About 2:30 p.m., Lebanon resident Jennie Marsh was already setting down her Ohio State chairs at a prime spot near the Golden Lamb Inn. Marsh said she’s been coming to the parade for the past 10 years.

“We live real close and we’ll be able to walk up and sit right down,” she said. “We wouldn’t want to miss it. This is what makes Lebanon so special. It’s the best hometown and it’s a big town with a small town feel.”

Marti and Oscar Tomiak of Allen Park, Mich., were looking for a weekend trip and he found parade information on the Internet.

“We do a lot of festivals, but we decided to try Ohio this year,” said Oscar Tomiak.

“We got here about 10-ish and had breakfast before sitting down,” she said. “We really had a good time. It was really nice but we didn’t expect such a big crowd. It’s been lots of fun.”