Christmas Tree Lighting and Welcome Home for Christmas

Hannah brown

 The third annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Welcome Home for Christmas celebration will be taking place around Liberty Square, on Dec. 6.

The event, which has drawn crowds much larger than its organizers had ever imagined, has quickly become a community tradition for kicking off the holiday season.

“Last year we had a projected 1,500 in attendance, and we are planning accordingly for this year,” Hannah Brown, Creative Arts and Worship Pastor at Christpoint Church, the event’s host, said.

Brown went on to say they are encouraging attendees to wear a mask if it makes them feel safer and to take advantage of the multiple hand sanitizer stations that will be spread throughout the area.

The event will kick off at 5 p.m. and will include live music at the Sparta Amphitheater, pictures with Santa at Oldham Theater, hot chocolate, movies being projected on buildings near the square, and carriage rides around the historic downtown area. A new attraction that has been added to this year’s event is food vendors. Brown said that Bella Café, B’s Cakes and Designs, and 4 Heifers & a Pig BBQ will all be onsite selling coffee, refreshments, and even meals for those who are looking for dinner.

The event will conclude at 6:30 p.m. when, for the first time during the 2020 holiday season, the official city tree will be lit with hundreds of thousands of lights, and Brown said she is even guaranteeing there will be a little snow for the event.

“We look forward to seeing each of you this year so that we can fill our hearts with a little less stress and a little more cheer,” Brown said, and then promised, “Fun will definitely be had, and memories will be made.”