The much-anticipated Santa Claus Parade will make its grand return for its 73rd edition on Saturday in downtown Montreal.
But before the big day, preparations are getting underway at Santa’s workshop. Well, not quite.
Inside a Montreal workshop, drills, lights and ideas are all buzzing as the team adds final touches to the Orchestrarium, a brand-new showpiece set to roll through the streets during this year’s parade.
The float is the latest creation from the team known for bringing large-scale festive magic to life.
Standing in front of the float, Fred Authier Pigeon, founder and president of Kleis Inc., explained what his team has been creating.
“It’s the new scenic piece for the Santa Claus Parade that we’ve been working on for this year to add some spicy to the new, to the 2025 edition.”
This year, Kleis focused on this single float after designing the Grinch float last year.
Pigeon said the creative work starts long before anything is built.
“The first step is having the idea and then going from the idea to making a magical element that’s going to talk to everybody and that’s going to be watching the parade,” he said.
Once the design is set, the team spends about three months making each piece and putting the float together.
“The longest process is really fine-tuning the idea of what the design is going to look like for a new scenic piece like that. Once we’ve reached that it’s about three months to start fabrication and make every piece and then start assembling on the actual float.
“We need to think of how we’re going to make it to make it last throughout the year, make it keep, stay nice in the years to come and how it’s going to come together and come apart every year for the parade.”
With the parade just days away, Pigeon said the team is eager to show the public their work.
“We’re super excited. We think this new scenic piece is going to be incredible,” he said. “We really hope the public likes it. It’s different from the other ones. It’s really another design that’s never been seen in this parade so we really hope the public is going to be excited to see it.
“It was an antique, old mechanic like steam work, like steam trains, and the aesthetic that it would look like, a vessel coming from the past, driving to Montreal.”
Pigeon said one thing that makes the float special is how all its parts work together.
“Working on this one, we really try to integrate the lights, the sound and the set itself to work all together,” he said. “And then think of a scenario that’s going to be run with the actors on the float itself to create a magical moment all of its own with its own soundtrack that’s been designed especially for this.”
Pigeon also thanked a key partner.
“The revamp of the shop has been possible with the help of Tourisme Montréal, which is really important because it’s a very important parade and it attracts a lot of people,” he said. “It’s really nice that we’re able to create new design, new pieces that’s going to keep attracting people.”
As Montreal gets ready for parade day, the Orchestrarium is shaping up to be a highlight — a hint of the holiday joy still to come.
