Corpus Christi’s Downtown Management District has already flipped the switch on its new 18-foot holiday tree in La Retama Park. The tree began lighting up downtown Friday, Nov. 6. Courtesy photo
Christmas came early in downtown Corpus Christi with the lighting of the first holiday tree at La Retama Park during the November Hybrid Art Walk. Art Walk happens the first Friday of each month.
“We though it would be a special time to bring this gift to the community — an early Christmas gift — in line when we would normally host Art Walk,” Downtown Management District Executive Director Alyssa Barrera Mason said during the tree lighting Nov. 6.
The 18-foot tree is sponsored by the Port of Corpus Christi. It displays more than 700 lights.
The tree is just one of the projects the Downtown Management District has planned for the holidays. Also in the works are lights at Artesian Park, Peppermint Lane on Chaparral Street, and the H-E-B Holiday Lights Tree at Water’s Edge Park.
Now in its third year, Peppermint Lane resurrects a 1960s era downtown holiday celebration. Businesses participate in a decoration contest for the season and this year, the holiday tree has been added.
As the 2020 Harbor Lights Festival has been canceled because of COVID-19, the downtown lights displays are a good way to social distance and build holiday memories.
You can also buy a limited edition commemorative Peppermint Lane ornament at a variety of downtown shops or online. Shops include 20/20 Vintage, Chelsis Marie Boutique, Made in Corpus Christi, K Space Contemporary, Art Museum of South Texas, and Visit Corpus Christi once it has moved into its new home in the Water Street Market Dec. 1.
