The Boat Parade Moves to Coolidge Park This Year, and Next Year's Riverfront Events Are Looking There Too

"Coolidge Park offers perfect views of the river for the Lighted Boat Parade and the fireworks show, as well as amenities like the Ellis Carousel." River City Company president and CEO Emily Mack said that in the September 29 Chattanoogan.com announcement that moved Reindeer on the Riverfront from its usual home at Ross's Landing to the other side of the Tennessee River.

Ross's Landing is about to close for a rebuild that the city says will take 18 months. Until it reopens, the downtown riverfront's crowds have one obvious place to go. The day after Thanksgiving is the first time that happens at full scale. What comes after it, from rowing shells to wakeboard competitions, is already shaping the North Shore's 2027 calendar.

November 27 on the North Shore Lawn

The event is free and runs from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, November 27. River City Company hosts it. Here is how the evening runs, based on the NoogaFinder holiday guide and the River City announcement:

Erwin Marine Sales coordinates the parade. Decorated boats will loop between the Market Street Bridge and the Veterans Memorial Bridge, which keeps the whole route in front of Coolidge Park. Audacy stations, including 105.5 KISS and 101 WUSY, will play holiday music, with Mike Key Entertainment as partner. Food and holiday art vendors will be there, along with a hot cocoa bar and drinks for guests 21 and older. The fireworks sponsors are the Southern Belle, Chattanooga Ducks, Mayor's Mansion Inn, Overboard Bar & Grille, Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, the Incline Railway, TRG Lawncare and the MoonPie General Stores.

Organizers suggest bringing lawn chairs and blankets. Parking is in the lots near Coolidge Park. The announcement also points people to south shore lots, with the Walnut Street Bridge as the walk over.

Why the Reindeer Crossed the River

River City Company says the move is temporary. In its words, the event returns to the south shore "after the Riverfront Park upgrades are completed in 2028." The upgrades are a project called Riverfront Parks Next. The City of Chattanooga's October 29 project update says construction documents are complete, River City Company has secured funding, and construction is set to start in late November and last 18 months. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on November 8 that officials are aiming for the project to be "substantially completed" by late spring 2028.

The rebuilt riverfront will add shade trees, a flexible sport court, restaurant spaces and a new playground. It will also fix electrical access and drainage, both of which matter to event producers. Some things stay open on the south side during construction. The Chattanoogan.com announcement says Southern Belle access stays open at all times, with parking in the lots across the street.

So this boat parade is the first of a season of riverfront events held at Coolidge Park. The question for the North Shore is how many more will follow it.

The March Plan Was 50 Events

When city officials first described the closure in March, Local 3 News reported the plan to move more than 50 events from Ross's Landing to Coolidge Park starting in 2027. By fall, the city was describing its role as helping organizers with "contingency planning and alternative downtown venue options for 2027." That wording points to Coolidge Park as one of several venues, not the only one.

Event organizers have said the same thing. Mickey McCamish is executive director of Friends of the Festival, which produces Riverfront Nights. He told Chattanoogan.com on October 6 that Coolidge Park had been offered, but that so many groups need dates that the park can't take them all. He named Erlanger Park, near the new stadium, as another option. He also said the series had not yet signed any performers for 2027.

Here is where the biggest names stood going into the holidays:

• Head of the Hooch. The regatta is staying in Chattanooga. Friends of the Hooch president Kerry Brown told the Times Free Press that in 2027 it will cross the river and use the North Shore as its venue.
• Chattanooga River Games. Vanessa Owensby, an organizer with Chatta Wake, told Local 3 News that Coolidge Park is a possible alternative site and that it would bring "definitely some different logistics."
• Riverfront Nights. The summer series is weighing Coolidge Park and Erlanger Park, as described above.

What a Regatta Asks of One Park

Scale explains why the North Shore can't take on the whole south shore calendar unchanged. Local 3 News reported that Head of the Hooch draws more than 2,200 boats, 6,200 athletes and 20,000 spectators. In August, regatta leaders described the North Shore as the in-city alternative but said it added about $145,000 in costs and left less room for boats and spectators. The River Games are smaller but still large. Organizers told Local 3 they expect 28,000 to 32,000 people over three days, with 5,000 to 7,000 spectators each day, 12 to 15 vendors and 10 to 15 food trucks.

Brown described the Hooch's plan in the Times Free Press. It calls for a new ramp down to the water on the North Shore and a review of how many trailers the site can hold. The regatta may use less space because the North Shore footprint is smaller.

The water's edge at Coolidge Park is also part of the plan. In March, the city sought a $1,790,915 grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and a $1,196,068 ARC ARISE grant. Together they would pay for a floating dock system at Coolidge Park and improvements to the Brainerd Levee trail. The dock design includes a 75-foot rowing section, a fishing pier, a central kayak launch, green gabion walls to stabilize the shoreline, and safety upgrades to the existing boat ramp. Those features line up closely with what a regatta and a wakeboard competition need, which shows how much of the next 18 months the city expects to run from this side of the river.

The Bridge Carries the Overflow

All of this depends on the Walnut Street Bridge, which reopened October 3 after an 18-month restoration with new Alaskan cedar decking, steel repairs and fresh paint, as the Times Free Press reported. The boat parade's parking plan depends on it, since it sends south shore drivers across the bridge on foot.

Frazier Avenue has already seen what the bridge brings. A week after the reopening, the Times Free Press reported that foot traffic was returning. In-Town Gallery said business was booming, and other shops expected more people on foot. South shore businesses are watching too. Netanja Jackson, general manager of Agave and Rye on the south shore riverfront, told the Times Free Press on November 8 that North Shore businesses were "really, really thriving" since the bridge reopened. She hopes her restaurant does the same once Ross's Landing reopens.

A Market Weekend on Each Side of the Parade

The boat parade isn't the only holiday event at Coolidge Park, and it isn't the first. Shop the Market At sets up Christkindlmarkt at Coolidge Park on two weekends, November 21–22 and November 28–29. Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The market has Glühwein, seasonal food, live music and artisan gifts, and admission is free. The second weekend starts the morning after the parade, so the park hosts holiday crowds three days in a row.

Along Frazier Avenue and nearby streets, the NorthShore Merchants Collective runs its Holiday Window Treasure Hunt from November 21 through January 6. Shoppers look for 22 hearts hidden in shop windows, and the hunt benefits Northside Neighborhood House.

The hunt runs past the first market weekend, the boat parade and the second market weekend, and keeps going into the new year.

If you're on the North Shore and wondering what a busier riverfront means for your street, from event-weekend traffic to how it shapes the market around Coolidge Park, The Robinson Team follows these changes closely and is glad to talk them through with you. Contact Us.