BATON ROUGE - Rain or Shine, Christmas parades will roll through Baton Rouge this Saturday.

"I know that there's supposed to be some rain, but they're gathering their ponchos as we speak," said Representative C. Denise Marcelle, sponsor of the Gus Young Parade.

Organizers of the Gus Young Parade and the Cortana Kiwanis Christmas Parade will not let tomorrow's rainy forecast dampen their holiday spirit.

"Hopefully the rain will taper off sometime around noon and we can have at least part of that parade without rain," Marcelle said.

The Gus Young Parade kicks off Saturday around noon on the corner of Winbourne and Acadian. But if you can't make it to that one, the 70th annual Cortana Kiwanis Christmas Parade will roll Saturday at 5:30 p.m. through downtown, starting on River Road.

"The parades always roll. Rain or shine, it doesn't matter. We just want to see all the smiling faces," said Heather Folks-Givens, Cortana Kiwanis Christmas Parade chair.

John Mackey is head of the Cortana Kiwanis Club. He says the parades are a sign that the city is bouncing back from the pandemic.

"I'm excited that Baton Rouge has the opportunity to have a major parade after 20 months of being cooped up in their homes," Mackey said.

With that in mind, the parades are going on as normal with some fingers crossed. They're ready to celebrate the Christmas season, even if the weather isn't perfect.

Proceeds from the Gus Young Christmas Parade will support the annual Santa Road Show on Saturday, Dec. 18 at BREC's Gus Young Gym from noon until 3 p.m.

Click here for more information on the 70th annual Cortana Kiwanis Christmas Parade.