Claiborne Christmas Festival
A Full Day of Fun for the Entire Family
Saturday December 10th
Parade at 4 pm / Lighting of the Square at Dusk

Christmas Festival Flyer

Sponsorship Form
Vendor Entry Form
Rib Cook-Off Form
Entertainment Entry Form
Parade Entry Form

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Claiborne Parish Christmas Festival and Parade

You can feel Christmas in the air with the smell of good food, entertainment, fun activities for the kids and family at the Claiborne Parish Christmas Festival, located around the historic Claiborne Parish Courthouse Square in Homer.

There will be the Santa Train, Christmas Festival, Parade, Car Show and the Piggly Wiggly Rib Cook-Off. It will be a fun day for the whole family.

Want to show your talent? Then come on down and help provide entertainment for the festival.

Want to sell your arts, crafts, food and other unique items for those wonderful Christmas gifts? Then we want you.

Booths for venders are $20 without electricity and $30 with electricity. Registration deadline is Friday, November 25.

Please contact Renea Burch at (318) 927-9257 or email for entry forms or to sign up to provide entertainment during the day.

We are offering booth spaces to all types of arts, crafts, food, and novelty "vendors" for a minimal fee of $20.00 without electricity and $30.00 with electricity. The booth space will be a 10X10 space. Each vendor is responsible for their own tables, etc.

Vendors can begin to set up at 7:00 a.m.; the festival will be from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Everything must be cleared off the square by 4:00 p.m. as that is when the Christmas Parade begins.

Vendor Registration Form

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Get your aprons on and your best cooking skills ready for the Piggly Wiggly of Homer Rib Cook-Off to be held on Saturday, December 10 in conjunction with the Claiborne Parish Christmas Festival and Parade.

This is the beginning of an annual event.

Prizes for the winners include: first place $300, second place $150 and third place is $75. You provide your team, grill and spices and Piggly Wiggly will provide three slabs of pork ribs for the cooking.

This will be a fun day for the family as there will be a car show, entertainment, fun activities for the children and the Claiborne Parish Christmas Festival and Parade to round out the day. So bring your family and have a day of good food, shopping and ringing in Christmas with the parade.

If interested in having a team and cooking, or being a sponsor of the Piggly Wiggly Cook-Off, please call Eric Brown or Renea Burch at (318) 927-2353 or email for entry forms and rules. Registration deadline is Friday, November 25.

Check-in for the Rib Cook-Off will begin on Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 5:00 a.m. with set-up to be completed by 7:00 a.m. We will hold a meeting of the competitors at 7:00 a.m. Once the meeting is complete you can start barbequing. Judging will be at 12:00 p.m.

We will award $300.00 and a plaque for 1st place, $150.00 and a plaque for 2nd place, and $75.00 and a plaque for 3rd place. Entry fees are $35 for the Rib Cook-Off Contest.

Rules and Registraion Form

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Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011 - Rain or Shine

The 2011 L&NW Santa Train is making its debut this year across North Louisiana and Southern Arkansas, carrying Santa to four towns in Louisiana and three towns in Arkansas.

Santa is currently looking for companies who want to host him during his visits to see kids this Christmas season. If you are interested, e-mail us or call 318-927-2031.

10:15 a.m. Athens, LA
Stop at: LA Hwy 518/Athens Ave.
11:15 a.m. Homer, LA
Stop at: Delta Interior parking lot (old Wal-Mart parking lot)
12:10 p.m. Haynesville, LA
Stop at: Fair Building – Gantt Street

Zoom Out

The Claiborne Parish Christmas Festival will be held on Historic Homer Town Square located at the junction of La Hwy 9 and US Hwy 79. Shreveport/Bossier - 45 mins, Monroe - 1 hr 15 mins, Ruston - 40 mins, Farmerville - 30 mins, and El Dorado - 55 mins.

Annual Christmas Food Drive

Brookshire’s Grocery Company is partnering once again with the Homer Lions Club to collect and distribute food to needy families in Claiborne Parish during the holidays as the 30th Annual Spirit of Christmas Food Drive gets underway.

The Haynesville Lions Club has once again agreed to help with the distribution of the food boxes in the Town of Haynesville. As in years past, the Claiborne Parish 4-H Junior Leaders, along with their sponsors, Lee Faulk and Teresa Price, will offer their valuable assistance in helping to collect, sort and package food items for delivery.

First Presbyterian Church in Homer will continue to allow Lions the use of their fellowship hall to prepare the food boxes for delivery. Food boxes will be delivered between noon and 5 p.m. on Friday, December 16.

Area residents are asked to make donations by placing non-perishable food items in designated bins located at Brookshire’s in Homer. People are asked NOT to donate HOMEMADE GOODS or items in GLASS JARS. Bulk items such as flour, sugar and corn meal should be donated in smaller sizes to allow for more variety in the boxes given to the recipients.

In addition to the public food donations, each family will receive at least one coupon for a baking hen from Brookshire’s. All food collected in this area will be distributed in Claiborne Parish.

Families to be assisted by the Spirit of Christmas Food Drive are selected by local relief organizations or government agencies according to need. The Claiborne Parish Office of Family Services (OFS) will again provide printouts to be submitted with completed applications.

Application forms are available at the OFS located on East 2nd Street next to Piggly Wiggly in Homer, at the Claiborne Parish Police Jury office and at Haynesville City Hall. The deadline to turn in completed applications along with OFS printouts is Friday, December 9. Completed applications can be turned in to the Police Jury office or mailed to Spirit of Christmas Food Drive, c/o Cynthia Steele, 309 North Main Street, Homer, LA 71040.

The Spirit of Christmas Food Drive began in 1982, when 92 families in Tyler, Texas, received assistance. Last year, some 500,000 pounds of food was collected in the Ark-La-Tex and distributed to more than 16,000 families. In Claiborne Parish, more than 185 food boxes were collected and distributed.

“The success of this year’s Spirit of Christmas Food Drive, as in the past, depends upon the wonderful generosity of our local citizens,” said Susan Herring, former food drive chairman for the Homer Lions Club. “We are very appreciative to everyone who has donated food items in years past and hope they will continue to be willing to help those in our communities who are less fortunate.”

For more information, please call Homer Lions Chairpersons Dwayne Woodard at 318-927-2222 or Cynthia Steele at 318-927-2566.