Kick-off the season with the Tree Lighting and Holiday Shopping Village in Downtown Anaheim

All aboard the magical Christmas train! The holidays are here, find out all about Orange County events or things to do in Orange County this holiday season. There are a variety of ways to add to the festive spirit this year. Kick-off the holiday season at the 25th Annual Nutcracker Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Shopping Village. The event includes tree lighting ceremonies, Christmas concerts, and other magical community events to celebrate the holidays with your family and friends. This is one of the FREE Orange County events where kids and adults alike can throw on some comfy pajamas and head to! 

Aside from ceremonies and concerts, this event features holiday craft activities, a real snow play area, a children’s train ride, free photos with Santa, and holiday musical performances by local schools and community groups throughout the day. This is one of the Orange County events made possible by sponsors like Health Net, Reel Lumber, Lighthouse Treatment Center, AT&T Entertainment Group, Anaheim Community Foundation, the City of Anaheim, and Anaheim Public Utilities and Republic Services.

Mom and Dad can also do some shopping for unique Christmas gifts from the Holiday Shopping Village while enjoying a wide variety of culinary treasures from the International Food Fair throughout the day. 

How It Started

Between 5,000 & 10,000 people are expected to come to this event for the lighting of a 50-foot Christmas tree which started out as just a vision on October 28, 1995.

On that day in October, dreams and schemes were filling the air for a vision of a community bustling around in happy holiday surroundings, in a real hometown atmosphere. 

Activities such as horse-drawn carriage rides, choral groups, and services from local places of worship, marching bands, entertainment presented by the children’s groups, and Santa arriving via one of Anaheim’s sparkling fire trucks were planned and set in motion.

The ideal place for such an event would be what all knew as Anaheim’s old downtown on West Harbor Place-from East to West Anaheim. 

It was during these times that community inspired them to make the center point of this event a beautifully decorated tree at the foot of West Harbor Place with the hopes of creating an annual tree lighting ceremony- a legacy the children of Anaheim could experience and pass on to their children. From thereon, Anaheim’s First Annual Nutcracker Holiday began.

How The Event is Celebrated Now

Now, this Orange County event spans the entire length of Center Street Promenade, with the giant redwood Christmas tree anchoring the traffic circle at the west end. The beautiful Christmas tree was a gift from Disney Resorts.

For a more delightful Tree Lighting and Holiday Village experience check out these tried and true helpful hints:

• Bring mittens and boots for our free snow play area.
• Bring a camera. You will want to keep these memories!
• Bring cash for shopping, face painting, and the international food frenzy.
• There is an ATM located on the southwest corner of CSP and Lemon.
• Come hungry – there’s a lot of tasty food!

Below are the details of this event 

Venue:

Downtown Anaheim – Center Street Promenade

(Center Street Promenade at Lemon Street)

Anaheim, CA

Date and Time

Saturday, December 7, 2019

10:00am to 7:00pm

Tickets

FREE 

Schedule of Events

International Food Fair & Unique Gift Shopping from 10 am-7:00 pm 

Photoshoot with Santa one per family from 3:00–5:30 pm 

The procession starts at 5:45 pm.

Lighting at 6:00 pm. 

Parking: 

Public Parking located in the Oak Street Parking Structures. There is also some parking in the Clementine and Center Street Promenade lot.

Contact details:

For more information, please visit www.downtownanaheim.com/tree-lighting or call (714) 956-3586.

This blog about Orange County events is brought to you by Toyota of Orange, a Toyota near Irvine dealer.