Community Corner
Batavia Flips the Switch on Holiday Season
19th Annual Celebration of Lights Festival features Christmas carols, chestnuts and a special guest.
Batavia kicked off the holiday season Sunday night with roasted chestnuts, Christmas carols and of course, Santa Clause, at its 19th annual Celebration of Lights Festival.
More than 300 people braved temperatures in the mid 30s to attend the family-orientated affair held at the Batavia Riverwalk.
"What began nearly two decades ago with a dozen people singing Christmas carols by a lone Christmas tree has certainly come a long way," said Allison Niemela, director of marketing for the Batavia Park District. "Throughout the years, however, we haven't lost our original intent and spirit of providing a local hometown event that celebrates the holidays and is great for the entire family."
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Festivities began at 5:30 with Master of Ceremonies Craig Foltos introducing the Batavia High School Madrigal Choir. After performing for the crowd, and together they led a sing-along.
The crowd got halfway through "Santa Clause is coming to town" when Santa arrived. After addressing the crowd and helping Mayor Jeff Schielke light the tree, .
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First in line to meet Santa was Batavia resident Amy Brooks with her children Devin, 9, Noah, 5 and Isabel, 2, along with her mother-in-law Adelaide.
"Last year was our first time here," Brooks said. "We had such a good time despite the cold we had to come back. This is a very nice community event where we can all get together to celebrate the holidays. This is very exciting for us because this is Isabel's first time to meet Santa."
In addition to meeting Santa, the Festival offered holiday story time, free hay rides, chestnuts roasted on an open fire (literally) and hot chocolate. Additionally, visitors could take a stroll down Christmas Tree Lane, which featured Christmas trees beautifully decorated by local Boy Scout troops, businesses and other organizations.
"This event has a certain sparkle to it," Niemela said. "There is an element of magic here with Santa Clause, the sing-along is great, as are the lighting of the Christmas tree and the hayride. This is an event I look forward to every year."
The event is sponsored by the Batavia Park District, the City of Batavia, the Batavia Chamber of Commerce, Batavia MainStreet and the Batavia Police Department.
Click to see the first part of a photo gallery from the event. The second part of the gallery can be found .
