DOWNTOWN CELEBRATES
WITH HOLIDAY LIGHTS NOV. 17-JAN. 1

THE SEVENTH annual Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival, downtown Milwaukee’s official celebration of the holidays, will set downtown aglow Thursday, Nov. 17, through Sunday, Jan. 1. 

The festival kicks off Nov. 17, with the Holiday Tree Lighting and concert at 5 p.m. in Red Arrow Park just north of Milwaukee City Hall, followed by the SBC Holiday Lights Kick-Off Extravaganza at 6 p.m. in Pere Marquette Park on the Milwaukee River between W. Kilbourn Ave. and W. State St.

The program includes live music and a fireworks show, all leading up to the simultaneous flipping of switches for the lights in Cathedral Square Park, N. Jefferson and E. Wells St.; Pere Marquette Park and Zeidler Union Square, W. Michigan St. between N. 3rd and 4th Sts. Elaborate lighted displays in all three parks will welcome visitors through Jan. 1.

The evening includes complimentary Eastcastle Place Jingle Bus rides from Pere Marquette Park, hot cocoa and coffee, cookies, and free coloring books and crayons for the kids. 

Following the SBC Holiday Lights Kick-Off Extravaganza, the Wyndham Milwaukee Center will host the Festival of Trees Lighting Ceremony at 7 p.m. The elaborately decorated trees will be auctioned benefit the Make A Wish Foundation® of Wisconsin.

The Eastcastle Place Jingle Bus will conveniently link the three Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival parks Thursdays through Sundays during the Holiday Lights season. Milwaukee’s Downtown Public Service Ambassadors will narrate the tour. Costing $1, the Jingle Bus will leave from the Hilton Milwaukee City Center, N. 5th St. and W. Wisconsin Ave., between 6-9 p.m. The last bus departs at approximately 8:20 p.m. The Jingle Bus will not operate Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Other downtown lighting attractions include harp lamp and skywalk decorations, roofline lighting, and  window and door displays.

For more information on the Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival visit www.MilwaukeeHolidayLights.com or call 414-220-4700, ext. 30.