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CELEBRATE THE BAY WAY AT THE HARBOR LIGHTS FESTIVAL, DEC. 7 — An old-fashioned holiday kicks off Saturday, Dec. 7, when the Harbor Lights Festival begins at 1 p.m. with hours of family activities, live entertainment, vendors and parades.
The children's parade starts the fun at Kinney Street, heading north in the northbound land of Shoreline Boulevard to Schatzell Street. Family fun activities begin at 2 p.m. and include:
- The HEBuddy Gingerbread Cookie Tent
- Holiday Tree and Gingerbread Village — Beautiful gingerbread houses and designer creations are hand made by businesses and residents and then displayed for public viewing. In the Holiday Tree tent, trees on display have been decorated by area schools, organizations and community groups. Trees and gingerbread houses will be auctioned off at the end of the night. All proceeds of the auction are to raise money for the Harbor Lights Festival.
- Downtown Optimist Club's Children's Activity Area — Volunteers help children write postcards to Santa, make holiday greeting cards and crafted gifts. Santa is expected to make an appearance, too! Other activities include jumping inflatables and face painting.
- Children's Gift of Love — Children learn to give a gift of love as they play bingo, listen to music and enjoy refreshments. Each child can select a donated gift to give to any person they wish. The gift is wrapped by volunteers and placed in a bag for the child to take home to place under the Christmas tree.
At 3:30 p.m., the main entertainment stage features a variety of live performances from local school and church groups as well as others.
The lighting ceremony begins at 5 p.m. with Santa's motorcade following at 6:30 p.m. The motorcade travels down Shoreline Boulevard to the lighting ceremony. At 6:45 p.m., Santa, along with several special guests of honor, will flip the switch to bring the Tree of Lights to life and officially begin the holiday season in the Coastal Bend region.
A concert begins at 7 p.m. followed by the NEC Retail Illuminated Boat Parade at 7:30 p.m. that will light up the marina with decorated boats and carol-singing crews.
For more information, call the Harbor Lights Festival at (361) 510-0480. You also may visit the Harbor Lights Festival Facebook page.