Christmas season was in full swing at the Wrightwood Mountain Holiday Celebration. The event was successfully held by the Wrightwood Chamber of Commerce and took place immediately after Thanksgiving on Friday, November 25th, and Saturday, November 26th. The holiday celebration brought about huge crowds and ignited holiday spirits on both days.
A ‘shop local’ campaign kicked off the two-day event with a craft fair at the Wrightwood Artisans Boutique that lasted all day. Many other shops and participating businesses in Wrightwood extended their hours into the evening hours in order to accommodate the Black Friday shoppers.
The main event on Friday night was the caroling and Christmas tree lighting. Carolers sang Christmas hymns at Veterans Memorial Park, which included a live nativity scene where Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, and angels were serenaded by a large group of people who were singing songs such as Silent Night. The carolers, along with several musicians, then made their way to Wrightwood Brewery, where they continued the musical performances by singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” while Santa and Mrs. Claus made their way through the crowded brewery parking lot to the base of the Christmas tree. As Santa thanked everyone for coming to the event, he led the countdown for the tree lighting. Once the Christmas tree was brightly lit (due partly to a bit of help from Santa’s magical elves), the caroling crowd ended the night by singing one final song, “O’Christmas Tree”.
The holiday shopping and Christmas festivities continued to Saturday and concluded with the 21st Annual Parade of Lights. Park Street was lined with crowds of spectators while trucks and trailers drove down the parade route, decorated with radiant strings of lights. The parade was so dazzling that there had to be two winners for each category. The first-place winners included the McDermott, Wheeler, Murphy, and Bannon Families, who presented the Polar Express and the Doran Companies LLC. Second-place winners were Daniel Meredith Plumbing and Caryn Lane. And the third-place winners were EXP Realty – Team RDP and Jenise & Mike Orton.
The Wrightwood Chamber of Commerce appreciates everyone who came out to support local businesses and hopes you continue to shop, eat, and spend locally this holiday season.
