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LaGrange is set for a Christmas Vacation with its annual Christmas Parade.

The 47th annual LaGrange Christmas Parade will be held on Thursday evening starting at 6 p.m.

The parade is hosted by the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce and unofficially holiday season in LaGrange. The parade will take its traditional route, weaving through downtown LaGrange. This year’s theme is “Christmas Vacation,” so attendees can expect plenty of references to the 1989 Chevy Chase holiday classic.

Visit LaGrange’s Kathy Tilley & Lynne Holle will serve as grand marshals for the parade. Both women were surprised by their selection but honored.

“It’s a huge honor. It’s surprising, but it’s a great honor,” Tilley said.

“It was shocking and exciting at the same time. I was really surprised. I wasn’t expecting it,” Holle said.

Tilley is the president and CEO of Visit LaGrange, the city’s tourism and marketing organization. Holle serves as the manager of the LaGrange Visitors Center on Ridley Avenue.

“I think the chamber has a great history of choosing people that know the community knows, or people that are involved in the community. It’s so obvious that Lynn was chosen.  People love her. She is a great manager of our visitors center,” Tilley said.

Holle is no stranger to parades. Holle’s parents, Jim and Annette Boyd, started LaGrange’s Sweet Land of Liberty children’s parade in 1985, which is held on the Fourth of July each year.

Tilley and Holle work together to bring people and their money to LaGrange. From Sweetland Amphitheatre to Great Wolf Lodge, tourism is booming in LaGrange, bringing in around $280 million to local businesses.

“We’ve worked hard to elevate tourism, and we have some great tourism partners,” Tilley said.