Mayor Bill Haslam will lead the countdown as the City of Knoxville lights up for the holidays Friday night at the Regal Celebration of Lights. The big Christmas in the City kickoff is set for 6 p.m., November 23, in the Krutch Park Extension, which faces Gay Street, though the celebration - featuring hundreds of thousands of lights, great music, storytelling, the Christmas Market and outdoor ice skating - will also fill Krutch Park and Market Square. The annual event, sponsored by the city and Regal Entertainment Group, will be the biggest one ever this year and will run from 6-9 p.m.An added attraction for this year's event is the WDVX Holiday Ho-Ho-Hoedown, on Market Square from 7-9 p.m.
It will feature performances of Holiday and other types of music from Freddy Smith, Logan Murrell, and CherryHolmes, the Nashville-based family band that won the International Bluegrass Music Association's Entertainers of the Year Award in 2005.
The Regal Celebration of Lights begins, again at 6 p.m., with one of the highlights of the evening, the lighting of the 38-foot-tall Christmas tree located in Krutch Park Extension - along with more than 300,000 additional lights adorning Krutch Park and Market Square as well as other buildings and streets in downtown Knoxville.
Those will join more than 500 brightly lit Christmas trees that businesses and organizations have set up on buildings downtown, along the Tennessee River and across the city.
The Monroe Consort and The First Baptist Church of Knoxville's Combined Choir will provide the music for the event.
In addition to turning on the lights and the great music, other attractions at the Celebration of Lights include:
Ice-skating on the Knoxville Holidays on Ice rink in Market Square
The Christmas Market, which features items from local crafters
Marshmallow roasting
Storytelling
Photos with Santa
Ornament making for the Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries' "Remember the Children" Tree
And cookie decorating with Mrs. Claus among many other fun events
Joining Mayor Haslam and Santa on the stage will be Bo Williams, from WATE-TV, who will emcee the show.
Mayor Haslam will lead the countdown to turning on the lights at 6:15 p.m. and the City of Knoxville invites businesses and organizations downtown to turn their trees on at the same time.
In homage to the past, the City of Knoxville is hanging an electric star over Gay Street. The city first used electric lights in its Christmas decorations in 1937 when it adorned Gay Street with lighted stars.
In addition to Regal Entertainment Group the Celebration of Lights is sponsored by First Tennessee Foundation, which sponsors the downtown Christmas tree; Mayfield; Allen Sign Company; WATE-TV; Comcast Cable Communications; WIVK and The Knoxville News Sentinel.