On the morning of December 6, 2025, the annual and distinctive “Christmas Weed” parade was held in Claymont, Delaware. This Christmas parade, held on the first Saturday of December each year, has a history of 27 years. The “Christmas Weed” symbolizes resilience and perseverance in adversity.
Despite the cold weather and light snowfall mixed with rain, the residents of Claymont town were still enthusiastic. After an hour-long parade, a “Christmas Weed” decoration ceremony was held in front of a church. Rick Jensen, the host of the Delaware radio station WDEL who sponsored the parade, led the ceremony, followed by a group singing of the song “Claymont Christmas Weed.”
Since 1993, the Claymont “Christmas Weed” has been a local tradition. That year, someone decorated a weed growing out of a crack near the intersection of Philadelphia Pike/Route 495 with ribbons and Christmas decorations. Although this “Christmas Weed” was removed by someone, a new one appeared the next night. Since then, Claymont town has been decorating and displaying this “Christmas Weed” every December, and the Claymont “Christmas Weed” Christmas parade started in 1998.
“I have always felt that the symbolic meaning of the Christmas Weed is that Claymont has always faced setbacks over the years… but Claymont has experienced a revival in the past twenty years, which is amazing. Just like the uplifting song ‘Christmas Weed’: we were knocked down, but we stand up again. I think this is the symbolic meaning of the Christmas Weed growing in the middle of the highway. No matter how many cars and trucks pass by, it still stands tall.”
Delaware State Representative Larry Lambert said he is “honored to celebrate all holidays, all nations, all cultures, which is the essence of Claymont.”
Robert Rossi, the Fourth Degree Grand Knight of the Delaware Knights of Columbus who participated in the parade, believes that the parade “aims to celebrate the birth of Christ and to open the holiday season to people of all different faiths and backgrounds.”