High River Santa Claus Parade gets its Hollywood closeup as Netflix shoots new holiday film

The High River Santa Claus Parade drew thousands Friday night, including a film crew from Netflix.

It was a very festive scene in High River on Friday for town’s Santa Claus Parade, and that suits Netflix just fine.

A huge crowd lined Main Street for the annual event and on cue, snow fell throughout the night.

That was perfect for Netflix, which is shooting a new film, The Bodyguard, in the area. The streaming giant sent a crew to film the parade, which included one float featuring the cast from the film.

It was the 40th year for the parade, which started in 1985 when a High River man organized a small parade for his wife, who loved Christmas -- and it’s been growing ever since, thanks to a lot of dedicated volunteers.

This year’s parade featured dozens of floats, firepits, free food and drinks -- and ended with the man in red, naturally.

“The Santa Claus Parade is the best event in High River,” said attendee Joyce Barton.

“You just have to experience it to experience joy.”

The Bodyguard features Leighton Meester, Jared Padalecki, Andie MacDowell and WWE superstar C.M. Punk.

It’s directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum.