Santa Claus came to town a little early this year and just in time for the annual Selma Christmas parade.

Santa brought up the tail end of this year’s Christmas celebration, which turned down Broad Street and went right into the heart of downtown. People lined the streets to watch the parade, which Selma Mayor George Evans said has become the true kickoff of the Christmas season in Selma.

“It is our means of officially kicking off Christmas,” Evans said.

The parade featured bands from several of the local schools, including Selma High School and Dallas County High School. After the parade, Selma High’s band marched to City Hall and entertained a crowd awaiting the annual tree lighting ceremony.

Many dance studios and sororities also took part.

Sesame Street’s Elmo made an appearance, as did Ronald McDonald and Sparky the Fire Dog.

“I enjoy the little children marching and dancing,” Evans said with a smile. “I just enjoy the whole parade.”

Everything seemed to line up perfectly for this year’s parade.

Temperatures were in the 70s, which is unseasonably warm for December 12.

Behind the scenes, everything presumably went well, as the parade started right on time.

At 3 p.m., the first floats began to turn off Water Avenue and onto Broad Street.

“I thought it went super well,” Evans said. “We had some breaks there because the bands talking and dancing, but it was a great turnout, great numbers and everybody enjoyed themselves.”