Festival of Lights 2006

This year's Festival of Lights is on Worcester Common. Next door at 415 Main Street, WCCA TV Channel 13 will be open to the public to record "holiday shout outs." Your holiday greeting will be broadcast throughout the winter on WCCA.

Press release:

Festival of Lights 2006

Festivities to spotlight Worcester’s creative spark

The City of Worcester and the Worcester Cultural Coalition will once again present the Festival of Lights on Friday, December 1, 2006 from 5 – 8 p.m. on historic Worcester Common.

While a 65-foot Norway Spruce, adorned with some 15,000 lights will surely be a focal point of the festival, its lighting will spark a spectacular light show on City Hall’s façade and throughout the Common, as well as a host of activity within City Hall. From 6-8 p.m., young and old alike will enjoy visits with Santa Claus, horse drawn hayrides around the Common as well as an opportunity to meet some of the City’s favorite characters including the Worcester Sharks’ Finz, Worcester Tornadoes Twister, Worcester Public Library Whooster the Owl, Plucky the Worcester Cultural Coalition Chicken and others.

“The Festival of Lights has quickly become a favored family tradition in Worcester and this year we are pleased to open the City’s home, City Hall, to help shine a light on some of our many talented residents,” said City Manager Michael V. O’Brien. “I look forward to kicking off the winter season with the community and invite everyone to join me for this year’s festivities which promise to be bigger and better than ever.”

Three youth chorus will kickoff the festivities starting at 5 p.m. on City Hall Plaza with performances by the Worcester Pubic Schools All-City Chorus, the Seven Hills Show Choir and the Abbey Kelly Foster Charter School Advanced Choir.

New for 2006, from 6- 8 p.m. the Worcester Cultural Coalition will host nearly a dozen different hands-on activities and creative displays inside, spread throughout the first, second and third floors of Worcester City Hall. The building’s grand second floor staircase will serve as the stage for performances by the Worcester Public Schools Handbell Choir, Yo-Yo Mama and the Spinheads, the Master Singers of Worcester & the Master Singers Youth Chorus and the Joy of Music Program Jazz Explorers.

Creative activity tables will include exhibits, demonstrations, sales and displays by the Worcester Cultural Coalition, First Night Worcester, the Worcester Art Museum, Higgins Armory Museum, the Worcester Arts Alliance, the Worcester African Cultural Center, the Worcester Historical Museum, the Worcester Center for Crafts, artist Jennifer Niles and the Worcester County Convention & Vistiors Bureau.

Right next door at 415 Main Street, WCCA TV Channel 13 will once again open its doors for the public to do Holiday Shout Outs -a chance for folks to send holiday greetings to someone on camera. These greetings will be broadcast all season on WCCA TV Ch 13.

A bit further down the street at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, 339 Main Street, First Night Worcester will kickoff its Time Flies clock sale and exhibit with an opening reception from 6:30-7:30 p.m. The sale-exhibition features fabulously original clocks created in honor of First Night Worcester’s 25th anniversary celebration. All clocks will be available for purchase through online bidding via www.firstnightworcester.org , with proceeds to be shared by First Night and artists whose work is sold.

The Festival of Lights is free and open to the public, and is being sponsored by the City of Worcester and the Worcester Cultural Coalition in collaboration with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, WTAG/WSRS and the Worcester Telegram and Gazette.

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