(WSB photos/video)

By the time tonight’s Not-So-Silent Night Parade headed out from the Highland Park Corner Store lot, the crowd was going on 100 of all ages, carrying lanterns, lights, bells, drums, and noisemakers. Here’s how it looked and sounded:

Pre-pandemic, the parade was a New Year’s Eve tradition, a spirited walk through several blocks of Highland Park to ring out (and drum out, etc.) the old year and welcome the new one. Since the last one, the parade-presenting Highland Park Improvement Club has been through something else – the fire that gutted their building – but they’ve continued serving as the heartbeat of the community anyway, and that’s why the parade went on.

Along the way, as well as making noise and music – we spotted a trombonist in the crowd – paraders yelled “Happy New Year!” at people who came outside to wave and watch.

The parade ended at Riverview Playfield, where all gathered in a circle to watch another part of the tradition:

As one person called out to the circle just before that, “This is to celebrate the fact that we’re all still here” as another year begins.