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63rd annual Piedmont Natural Gas Nashville Christmas Parade presented by Tootsie's - now double the size - will be held Dec. 3

/EINPresswire.com/ -- The festivities will be shown live on WKRN-TV and syndicated nationwide to nearly 200 television stations during holiday season

NASHVILLE, TN--(Marketwired - Nov 23, 2016) -  The 63rd annual Piedmont Natural Gas Nashville Christmas Parade kicks off the holiday season in downtown Nashville on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 9 a.m.

This year's parade, themed "The Musical Mile," will double in size, expanding from one hour to two hours in length with three times as many bands. 

Grammy Award-winning artist Kelly Clarkson will serve as Grand Marshal, and parade goers will enjoy a packed talent roster, including musical performances, helium balloons and, of course, an appearance by the star of the show, Santa Claus.

A complete list of parade talent can be found at www.nashvillechristmasparade.com.

In addition to WKRN-TV live coverage, the Piedmont Natural Gas Nashville Christmas Parade is going national this year. Timeless Syndication will make the parade available for broadcast on TV stations and other outlets across the country for airing Dec. 10 through the end of January 2017.

"The support we've received from the local community has allowed the parade to grow exponentially this year and move it toward becoming a nationally recognized holiday event," said Stephen Francescon of Piedmont Natural Gas. "We are excited to share the Christmas spirit with all of Middle Tennessee and beyond."

This year's parade again will use the route that began in 2015. Participants will start at the intersection of 8th Avenue and Broadway, heading east down Broadway to Second Avenue North, crossing over the Cumberland River and ending at the base of the Woodland Street Bridge.

A subsidiary of Duke Energy, Piedmont will allocate some of the proceeds from this year's event to Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Children's Hospital provides pediatric specialty care to families across the region, and the event's proceeds will support a four-floor expansion as part of the hospital's "Growing to New Heights" campaign.

The parade also will benefit Piedmont's Share the Warmth, an energy-assistance program that helps local low-income families pay their energy bills at any point during the year, regardless of their energy source.

Since 2003, Piedmont Natural Gas, its customers and the Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation have donated more than $2.8 million to the Share the Warmth program. For more information, visit www.piedmontng.com/sharethewarmth.

To stay up to date on parade happenings and announcements, visit the Nashville Christmas Parade website at www.nashvillechristmasparade.com or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nashvillechristmasparade.

About Piedmont Natural Gas
Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, is an energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than 1 million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Its subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, regulated interstate natural gas transportation and storage, and regulated intrastate natural gas transportation businesses. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available at www.piedmontng.com.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is an S&P 100 Stock Index company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com.

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Media contact:
Loree Elswick
704.731.4236
loree.elswick@duke-energy.com