Illuminations Tours on December 18 showcase local Christmas tradition
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Homes on Bartlett Street lit up the winter sky during last year's illuminations tour. - Photo courtesy of Somerville Arts Council

If Santa ever gets lost on his way to Somerville, all he has to do is look for the lights and colors radiating from the amazingly decorated homes that attract hundreds of spectators each holiday season.

The Somerville Arts Council is once again offering a unique way to take in the highlights of the seasonal displays, with a series of 27 trolley tours on Saturday, December 18.

“It’s a way to celebrate the community’s artistry through their house and yard displays during the holidays,” said Gregory Jenkins of the Arts Council, which began offering the trolley tours 14 years ago, although Somerville’s tradition of extraordinary Christmas displays goes back much further.

This year’s tours will depart from the City Hall Concourse between 4:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. and will cover a 45-minute route through some of the most colorfully lit neighborhoods in East and Central Somerville. The Somerville Community Chorus will perform at City Hall, where guests can warm up with hot drinks and cookies, and children can create holiday crafts.

Jenkins said the Arts Council recognizes the effort and creativity that go into the decorations as a larger-than-life art installation, with the trolley tours being a sort of gallery tour on wheels. Volunteer hosts will guide trolley passengers through the traditions and inspiration behind the displays, whose themes are both secular and Christian, especially Roman Catholic, since many of the participating families are of Italian or Portuguese descent.

Almost the entire frontage of Joseph Carvalho’s home on Springfield Street is graced by a Nativity scene with glowing figures, real straw, a soundtrack of sacred music, and a starlit sky made up of hundreds of twinkling lights; while Len Rigione’s Central Street home is adorned with colorful wooden cut-out characters, inspired by Disney and other children’s cartoons, and hand-made by Rigione himself.

On Preston Road, Frank and Maria Armata’s yard has been transformed into a holiday playground, where reindeer, dolls and teddy bears enjoy everything from a Ferris wheel to a hot air balloon, all presided over by a life-sized animatronic Santa Claus. “I do it to take on the spirit of Christmas,” said Frank Armata. “It’s how I grew up in Italy.”

Armata, who has five grandchildren ranging in age from three to fourteen, said he chose this year’s playground theme especially for the children. He said to see their faces light up is more than enough reward for all the hard work – not to mention the higher electric bills. “It’s worth whatever I pay for this one month, to see how the people come by and enjoy it. It’s priceless,” said Armata.

Jenkins said many of the same families participate each year, but there’s always something new. “There’s a sense of pride that they want to continue doing this work and keep up the tradition,” said Jenkins, “They’re always adding to their displays.”

Tickets for this year’s illuminations trolley tours are $10 for adults and $5 for children and seniors, and proceeds benefit the community programs of the Somerville Arts Council. Tickets went on sale on December 1 at the Blue Cloud Gallery, 713 Broadway, in Ball Square. The event often sells out, but if you can’t get a ticket for the trolley tour, there are other ways you can still enjoy the decorations.

For the first time, the city will offer an illuminations tour by bike, leaving City Hall at 7:15 p.m. on December 18, and following the same route as the trolleys. Participants are required to wear helmets and have bicycle lights, and are encouraged to dress for the weather, but there is no cost for the tour.

Brian Postlewaite, chair of the Somerville Bicycle Committee, said he was inspired to suggest a bike version of the tour when he took the illuminations tour on the trolley last year. “I thought, what a great way to celebrate biking in the winter, to go around and look at all these houses.”

For those who want to take in the displays on their own time at their own pace, the Arts Council sells a $3 illuminations map, including sites not on the trolley tour, available at Blue Cloud Gallery and Magpie in Davis Square, as well as at City Hall on the 18^th. Also available for $5 in many local stores is Somerville: City of Lights, a full-color 36-page book, which tells the stories of the traditions and families involved.

And spectators still have plenty of time to take in the dazzling displays, since most will remain up until Epiphany, or Three Kings’ Day, on January 6. Then, it all disappears until next year.

“I feel lousy when I take it down,” said Frank Armata. “Then I think of how next year I’m going to do something different.”