Warwick’s second annual Strolling Rolling Apponaug Winter Festival lifted spirits on a brisk morning Saturday with a large crowd gathered in the village.

The festival, which began last year after the city received an $86,000 grant from Rhode Island Commerce, went from 9 a.m. through 3 p.m., with the main event – a parade through the village – stepping off at 10.

The parade started off behind Grand Marshal Milissa O’Neil, a teacher at Oakland Beach Elementary School who was named the 2024-25 Rhode Island Teacher of the Year, and ended with Santa and Mrs. Claus perched atop a Warwick fire truck at City Hall.

O’Neil said she was approached about being the grand marshal around two weeks before the parade and accepted immediately.

“I was humbled by [the request],” O’Neil said. “This is an amazing community, and I’m just glad to be a part of it.”

O’Neil was driven around the village by Jeffrey and Ginny Goldstein in their antique Chevy pickup truck. Others in the parade included the Warwick Dance and Gymnastics Academy, the Apponaug Babe Ruth Baseball League and Scott, Hoxsie and Norwood elementary schools.

In addition to the parade, the festival featured special events throughout the village, with face painting, hay rides, food trucks and vendors all present. After Santa and Mrs. Claus’s ride through the village, the two stopped across City Hall to hear what kids wanted and for photos.

Some local businesses also set up their Apponaug locations for the event, and Warwick City Hall hosted multiple choral performances in the City Council chambers. Warwick Public Library Director Aaron Coutu estimated the Apponaug branch, which offered some arts and crafts and a viewing of the movie “Elf,” attracted as many people during the festival as it does in a typical month. The library’s scavenger hunt was a big attraction.

According to City Council President Stephen McAllister, who represents Apponaug in City Hall, most of the festival’s main attractions had to be moved to the one-way section of Post Road due to construction of the City Hall Plaza ice rink right in the middle of the village.

While McAllister said that displacement made this year’s festival a bit smaller than the inaugural one, he and other local government officials, many of whom marched in the parade, said the day lived up to their expectations.

“It’s been everything I hoped it’d be,” said Mayor Frank Picozzi. “A little bit colder than I’d like, but everything we could control was great.”

With construction of City Hall Plaza expected to be finished by the time next year’s parade is held, those in Warwick’s government hope that the parade will reach new heights in 2025.

“Once the rink’s up, this will get even bigger,” McAllister said. “I’m looking forward to it.”