The holiday tradition returns this weekend, with the town’s official Christmas Tree Lighting – kick off the season with family and friends at this free community festival. The fun starts 3:30-5:30 p.m. Saturday. The tree, which is located in the Arts Center’s parking lot at 14 Shelter Cove Lane, is the official Hilton Head Island Christmas tree, and the event promises to be an old-fashioned Yuletide celebration that will help you deck the halls.
“This is definitely a treat for the whole family,” said director of education Alana Adams. “Kids love it. It’s fun to see their faces light up when they see Santa Claus and the big tree. It really makes you feel like a kid again.”
The festival features many activities for children, such as face painting and holiday crafts – make a dove marionette, an oyster shell Santa Claus ornament, gingerbread cards and more. There will also be plenty of photo opportunities with the aforementioned Mr. Claus, as well as a musical performance from the cast of The Drowsy Chaperone. Hot chocolate, coffee and treats will be for sale, to help keep you warm.
Returning to join Santa this year will be his wife, Mrs. Claus, and his favorite red-nosed reindeer, Rudolph. The trio will arrive at 3:45 p.m. with the traditional welcoming parade.
“Because our festival comes early in the holiday season, we’re able to not only book Santa but his wife and Rudolph, too,” said Kathleen Bateson, Arts Center president and CEO. “It’s a busy time of year for the Clauses and Rudolph, so we’re very luck to get all three here from the North Pole!”
The event kicks off with a music and crafts at 3:30 p.m. and runs until 5:30 p.m., with the tree lighting capping off the evening. The festival features many activities for children, and reindeer antlers and Elves hats are for sale.
Adams said there will also be opportunities to help the less fortunate. Food and toy donations will be collected, and there will be a Christmas ornament-decoration activity that lets a child design their own ornament that is placed on the city’s Christmas tree. Money raised from the craft goes to the Deep Well Project, a local charity that helps families in need.
“It’s a great event, because we celebrate as a community, and it’s a real positive atmosphere,” Bateson said. “It’s our ‘thank you’ for to the community for all the support it gives us throughout the year.”
