The City of Healdsburg will be kicking off the holiday season on Dec. 3 with a Hanukkuh ceremony, a tree lighting with city council members, family activities and the arrival of Santa Claus. The event culminates with a weekend-long holiday sidewalk sale and a performance from the Healdsburg Chorus.
The event called Merry Healdsburg Weekend starts at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 3 in the Plaza.
“Merry Healdsburg Weekend is the outcome of several different goals that both us, the chamber and the Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District have really been talking about for some time. Healdsburg hasn’t had a typical signature community holiday event like you might see in Geyserville with the tractor parade and so our team has been talking about that for some time,” said Healdsburg Community Services Director Mark Themig.
He said the event is made possible in part by the generous support of the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce and the Healdsburg Tourism Improvement District. “The chamber has done a really amazing Black Friday event in the past and it involved all of the downtown businesses,” Themig said.
He shared that earlier this year, the city and the chamber started talking about the holidays and what they could do for the holiday season that was community focused and included local businesses.
“We started talking about different ideas and came up with this weekend signature event that does both of those things,” Themig said.
The festivities will start in the Plaza at 5 p.m. with a Hanukkah ceremony, followed by Christmas carolers who will be in the Plaza until about 6 p.m., when Santa will arrive by fire truck. Santa will then help the city council with a countdown for the lighting of the Plaza Christmas Tree.
“We’ve always had a Christmas tree in the Plaza. We called it the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. This year, we did something different and we actually brought in a live tree that’s been installed in the Plaza and we are decorating that for the holidays and we’ll be lighting that up at 6 o’clock Friday evening,” Themig said.
In addition to the tree, the city partnered with a local metal artist who will create and install a hanukkiah. A hanukkiah has nine candlesticks instead of the seven seen on menorahs.
There will also be free hot chocolate and desserts available and children can get their photos taken with Santa. Kids can also participate in an ornament-making activity and the city will provide a free screening of “The Grinch” on Plaza Street.
To boot, downtown businesses will be putting together holiday specials and sidewalk sales throughout the weekend and many of those stores will be open in conjunction with the Friday evening, Dec. 3 main event.
“Really, the idea is to focus on our local businesses as a place to shop for your special holiday gifts,” Themig said.
Folks are encouraged to shop in the downtown area that weekend, as carolers make their rounds in the Plaza the whole time to offer some holiday cheer.
“We’re excited to welcome the holidays with the community. It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a few years and we think that this will be the start of something that will be really special for our community,” Themig said.
