Downtown beamswith festivities during December

THE EIGHTH ANNUAL Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival, downtown Milwaukee’s official celebration of the holidays, sets downtown aglow through Sunday, Jan. 7. The festival includes thousands of glowing lights, animated light displays in three downtown parks, dozens of decorated storefronts and rooflines and a convenient Jingle Bus tour.

“The Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival bundles all of the performing arts, sporting events, holiday events, family attractions, restaurants, shopping and more,” says Beth Nicols, executive director of Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District #21. “With new events and attractions each year, the six-week festival has grown to make downtown Milwaukee a premier holiday destination.”

Highlights of this year’s street-level decorations include new LED lighting, double wreaths with blue and white lights on Wisconsin Avenue’s harp lamps and a halo of white lights hovering above the intersection of Old World Third Street and Wisconsin Avenue. Other Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival lighting attractions include roofline lighting and the downtown window and door display contest.

To view the three festival parks, storefront decorations, roofline lighting, and park and harp lamp decorations, jump on the convenient Potawatomi Jingle Bus. For $1 per person, this Coach USA bus takes visitors on a 40-minute narrated tour throughout downtown. A Public Service Ambassador also is on board to acquaint visitors with downtown attractions. The Potawatomi Jingle Bus operates from 6-9 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 30 from the Hilton Milwaukee City Center. The last bus departs at approximately 8:20 p.m., so come early to reserve your spot. Enter from the Hilton’s 6th Street entrance to register and receive free coffee, hot cocoa, cookies, coloring books and crayons. Parking is available in the Hilton’s parking structure for $5 with your Potawatomi Jingle Bus ticket stub. Please note the Potawatomi Jingle Bus will not operate Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve.

For more information about the Holiday Lights Festival, or to obtain a festival brochure, phone 414-220-4700, ext. 30, or visit www.milwaukeeholidaylights.com. 

Here are the details of this year’s lighting in the three downtown parks which have been renamed for the season this year:

Community Spirit Park/Cathedral Square Park at N. Jefferson and E. Wells Sts.

More than 30 area schools have adorned Community Spirit Park with ornaments reflecting their chosen holiday themes. These trees surround a 50-foot Christmas tree of ever-changing red, green, white and blue lights. This year for the first time all lights in “Community Spirit Park” will be energy efficient LED lights.

Fairytale Dreams Park/Pere Marquette Park at W. State and Old World 3rd Sts.

Toy soldiers, a holiday wizard, an animated fountain scene with swans, a castle spectacular, a frog transforming into a dashing prince and a unicorn are featured. And what fairytale would be complete without the princess finding her prince?

Holiday Circus Fun Park/Zeidler Union Square at W. Michigan between 3rd & 4th Sts.

Highlights include a giant animated carousel display, an elf shooting from acannonball, a snow boy tightrope walker scene, a snow boy swinging from a trapeze scene, a holiday clown on a drum and a giant red teddy bear.