FREEPORT – Cameras flashed last Friday night as parents took photographs of their children in front of the L.L. Bean Christmas tree while they awaited the start of the Sparkle Parade.

Then, the Woodside One Wheelers of Topsham got things going, circling Main Street on their unicycles. Next came the Freeport Middle School band playing Christmas classics such as “Deck the Halls,” and “All Come All Ye Faithful,” and the big crowd that lined both sides of Main Street started singing along.

Parade fans and shoppers jammed the streets as the town’s 20th Sparkle Weekend, a celebration sponsored by FreeportUSA that has become a family tradition, kicked off.

Thomas Moccrate of Rockport, Mass., was there with his wife Claire and daughters. Weighed down with shopping bags, he didn’t seem to mind.

“After 26 years of marriage,” Moccrate said, “I’m used to being a pack mule. I’ve got three daughters. We’ve got lots and lots of stuff. We’re doing quite well with the sales. It’s fun. It’s nice. It’s festive.”

With the Christmas tree as a backdrop, Charles and Patricia Woods took photos of their grandchildren Heather, Charles and Nolan Brenton, of Kingston, Mass.

“This event is very popular in Massachusetts,” Charles Woods said. “We love L.L. Bean. Look at my credit card, and you’ll know.”

First Parish Church Congregational Church opened its annual Holly Jolly Fair, which affords artisans and artists who don’t own shops a venue to display and sell their wares. While church members prepared food for after the parade in the downstairs kitchen, artisans such as Patti Trygg displayed their creations. Trygg owns Patti’s Machine Quilting. She had a prime spot at the church, right inside the open doorway.

“It’s been very popular for us,” said Trygg, who was there with her husband, Kurt.

The tables at the sidewalk cafe at Linda Bean’s Maine Kitchen & Topside Tavern were bright with flames, adding to the Sparkle theme. Old friends Andrea Goodwin and Cathy Rogers of New Brunswick and Heather Harty of Long Island meet in Freeport at this time every year to do their Christmas shopping and enjoy the festivities.

“This is halfway for us,” Harty said. “We do a little shopping. We’re a great boost to the Maine economy.”

The L.L. Bootmobile, built this year to commemorate the company’s 100th anniversary, also rode along the parade route, which began on the northern side of Main Street. The Bootmobile, which appeared in the Duck Parade for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox on Nov. 2, was still covered in Red Sox red, but drivers Keith Smith and Keith Flaherty said that the red vinyl wrap, which was applied for the Duck Parade, will be removed to reveal the original look of the famous Bean Maine Hunting Boot.

Children were waiting, of course, for Santa Claus. He appeared at the end of the Sparkle Parade, and then brought Freeport’s Talking Christmas Tree to life.

Going into Tuesday’s voting deadline, Azure Cafe? at 123 Main St. was running first in the Sparkle contest for best decorations. A total of 728 people had voted as of Monday afternoon, at the sparklecelebration.com website. Azure Cafe?, which featured red robots on white pedestals, was winning with 30 percent of the vote.

Jill McGowan, at 56 Main St., was second with 20 percent. The women’s shop displayed a white gown with a red sash, with bulbs hanging in the background.

The Wishful Moon, located at 12 School St., wowed visitors with white lights and a blue star on top. The Wishful Moon had 18 percent of the vote.

Trees wrapped in lights serve as a beautiful backdrop for Friday night’s Sparkle events in Freeport. Cyclists with the Woodside One Wheelers, a performing circus arts group from Topsham, entertain the big crowd Friday night at the outset of the Sparkle Parade in Freeport.