[CREDIT: City of Warwick] A map of the parade route, parking and carriage rides for the Rolling, Strolling Apponaug Winter Festival.

WARWICK, RI — The Warwick Tourism Department’s Rolling, Strolling Apponaug Winter Festival returns Saturday with a day of food trucks, carriage rides, balloon art, face painting, photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and a parade.

[CREDIT: City of Warwick] A map of the parking shuttle route for the Rolling, Strolling Apponaug Winter Festival.

The Apponaug Winter Festival will feature vendors, food trucks, live music, horse and carriage rides, balloon art, face painting, photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and other family-friendly activities, including a scavenger hunt.

The food trucks, marketplace vendors/community partners, touch-a-trucks, picnic tables will be in the City Hall parking lot. Music will be a prominent element of the day.

Activities include Balloon Twisting by Antknee, Face Painting, Glitter Tattoos, Hayrides, and the Warwick Public Library Pop-up Van, as well as a Scavenger Hunt to find lighthouses crafted by local artists, Touch-a Trucks, an Outdoor Marketplace, Food Trucks, and Save The Bay’s Traveling Touch Tank.

DJ WRIK will ensure festive holiday music is played throughout the village, and a snow machine will bring winter fun, even if the weather is warm!

Don Rodrigues Karate Academy will give a demonstration, the Clouds Hill Museum will offer a Greenery Workshop, and the Warwick Wildlife and Conservation Commission Pollinators will be on hand with information and free seeds to plant. The Warwick Historical Society will have an informational table.

There will be a Children’s Creative Table and Winter Gallery Market at The Warwick Center for the Arts. The Warwick Central Baptist Church will be offering activities, as will the Apponaug Babe Ruth League and the Apponaug library. Local school student choirs will perform upstairs in City Council Chambers throughout the afternoon.

APPONAUG WINTER FESTIVAL PARADE

A Christmas/holiday parade, staging at Dunkin Donuts at the Greenwich Avenue roundabout, steps off at 10 a.m. The route follows the Apponaug Circulator roundabouts east, then south on Post Road, then west toward its end point at Warwick City Hall. The grand marshal this year is Milissa O’Neil, RI Teacher of the Year 2025.

APPONAUG WINTER FESTIVAL HAY RIDES

City Hall is also the access point for the carriage rides, which will run in a loop from Post Road down Music Lane, east on College Lane, then back onto Post Road toward City Hall. The carriage rides are free, provided by Remembrance Carriages.

APPONAUG WINTER FESTIVAL ROAD CLOSURES, PARKING NOTES

For your convenience, shuttles will run continuously to and from Toll Gate High School and the AAA/Annex Building. Taking advantage of this free shuttle service, generously donated in part by First Student, is strongly recommended

Post Road from the Walgreens Roundabout to the West Shore Road Roundabout will be closed to traffic from 8:30 a.m. until the end of the festival at about 3 p.m.
Residents along the south side of Post Road are encouraged to park on Pleasant Street, Prospect Street or Colonial Avenue to allow for access out of the neighborhood during the event.
Veterans Memorial Drive east, from the Dunkin Donuts Roundabout at Greenwich Avenue will be closed to traffic from 8:45 a.m. till about 11 a.m. for the Winter Holiday Parade.
The westerly side of Veterans Memorial Parkway will be closed when the parade starts, approximately 10 a.m., and reopen after the parade is past that section of road.
Westbound West Shore Road traffic will be detoured up Shippee Avenue to Lockhard Avenue until the parade passes Shippee Avenue.
Post Road south traffic will not be permitted to travel to West Shore Road during the parade. Motorists are encouraged to use Main Avenue to reach West Shore Road

Author: Rob Borkowski

Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.

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