Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce to host Christmas Tree Lighting Festival

The annual Christmas Tree Lighting Festival, hosted by Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce, will light up the sky this Saturday night on Dec. 6.
This year’s lighting festival will take place at the Scotts Valley Community Center from 2 to 7 p.m., and will feature plenty of festive activities and attractions for the whole family.
Brenda Tealer, an ambassador with the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce and the lead organizer for the event, is expecting the number of event goers to double from last year’s estimated crowd of 250.
“It just continues to get bigger and better,” she explained, “and I know for some of us, I think that we are trying to bring back a little bit of our Santa’s Village that we had years ago.”
Both the large tree, located near Walgreens in front of Kings Village shopping center on Mount Hermon Road, and the little tree at the community center will be lit simultaneously around 6 p.m. with the arrival of Santa via fire truck.
“We have a whole plethora of new things that are happening this year,” Tealer emphasized.
For starters, families can take selfies or have their photos taken inside a life-sized snow globe, or visit the petting zoo, which is put on by local 4-H groups.
There will also be draft-horse-pulled wagon rides — available with a donation to Valley Churches United Missions — as well as caroling, face painting, crafts, food and refreshments, and the Cub Scouts will be selling mistletoe.
Local schools and dance studios will be performing up until the traditional lighting of the two trees.
“We are trying to make it an area where some of the local groups can be a part of the celebration and at the same time help our charity and benefit-type situations,” Tealer said.
My Scotts Valley is sponsoring a Christmas light contest and maps will be dispersed so that people can go by and take a look at the local homes covered in Christmas lighting and decorations, she said.
Many local businesses are sponsoring this holiday event with Scarborough Lumber being a major contributor.
This community-based Christmas tree lighting festival is a tribute to finding joy in the simple things like families coming together for the holidays, Tealer mentioned.
“I love the kids and the family,” Tealer said. “Our vision is to get bigger and there are some other things that we want to bring down the road, and our motivation is to have something that gives back to the community.”