Santa Claus will be coming to two Franklin County towns over the next two weekends, traveling through Montague’s five villages on Dec. 16 and through Whately on Dec. 23.

Montague

The Montague Center Fire Association’s annual parade will begin at 2 p.m. in Montague Center at the Fire Station, located at 28 Old Sunderland Road. It will continue down School and Main streets before stopping at the Montague Common.

The parade will continue to Lake Pleasant at around 2:15 p.m., making its way from Lake Pleasant Road to Broadway before stopping at Rutter’s Park. From there, it will head to Green Pond Road and Federal Street. It is expected to reach Millers Falls and stop across from Carroll’s Market at around 2:30 p.m. before heading onto Franklin, Newton and Bridge streets to Turnpike Road.

By around 2:50 p.m., the parade will reach Montague City and stop at the parking lot bus stop before heading down Montague City Road and Avenue A, arriving at Unity Park at around 3 p.m. All times are approximate.

Whately

Kris Kringle’s Franklin County tour continues the following weekend with a last-minute trip to Whately on Dec. 23. The town’s sixth annual parade starts at 4:30 p.m. at the Whately Town Offices.

From there, the parade will follow its traditional route, according to Fire Chief JP Kennedy. The route includes Grey Oak Lane, Straits Road, Herlihy Field, Christian Lane, Swamp Road, North Street, the Whately Inn, Masterson Road, Webber Road, Westbrook Road and Chestnut Plain Road, in that order. The parade will end at around 6:30 p.m. at the Highway Garage. Kennedy said a few more streets may be added, too.

Emergency vehicles from the Whately Police and Fire departments, along with South County EMS will travel with Santa.

Santa will be riding on his sleigh and Whately children are encouraged to have flashlights, glowsticks or other lights, so Santa can spot them from the parade route.

For more information about Whately’s parade, visit the Fire Department’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/WhatelyFireDepartment.