Area residents looking to get in the Christmas spirit didn’t have to venture far from home Saturday.

There were three events to pick from in Macon County: the annual Christmas Parade, Christmas in Key Park and a Christmas festival at Fairlane Elementary.

The Macon County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Christmas parade began at 1 p.m.

"I thought it was very successful," Chamber president Thomas Kidd said of the parade on Sunday afternoon. "We had a good crowd. It was a great turnout. We look forward to next year's."

The parade route began at the corner of Ellington Drive and Highway 52. It followed the route west to Highway 10 North, proceeded through the square and concluded at the corner of Highway 10 and Akersville Road.

The temperature was 34 degrees by the time entries were lined up at 10:30 a.m. It felt like it was 15 degrees, though, with winds from the North at six miles per hour, according to weather.com.

At the time the parade started, the temperature had risen to 36 degrees though it felt like 14 degrees with winds out of the Northwest at three miles per hour, according to weather.com.

“A Colorful Christmas” was the parade’s theme, and the grand marshal was Nancy Doss.

"I thought it was great fun," Doss said. "I was really amazed at the number of people that were there given the cold day. A lot of them I recognized. I thoroughly enjoyed it."

Doss sent a thank-you note to the grand marshal selection board.

"One of the nicest things about it is I was chosen because of my work on the arts council," she said. "So it's kind of a statement for the arts, if you would, an advocacy move for the arts to be the grand marshal.

"From that standpoint, it was quite an honor."

Christmas at Key Park followed the parade and started at 3 p.m., by which time the winds had calmed and the temperature had risen to 37 degrees, according to weather.com. It still felt like it was 14 degrees.

The event featured a variety of food, fun and prizes. Santa was on hand to pose for free photos.

Prizes were donated by many area businesses.

The event also featured live music.

Musical guests included Billy Reason and the Hired Guns and Dale Meador with Marsha Briggie and Melanie Bowmann. Other guests included Randy East and Kim Marsh and the Middle Tennessee Children’s Choir.

NCTC is scheduled to air a replay of both the parade and Christmas in Key Park later this month.

Meanwhile, at Fairlane Elementary, a Christmas festival was held from 3 to 7 p.m. and included even more food, fun and prizes.