Join Mayor Curtatone and city staff for Somerville’s annual holiday celebrations, kicking off on Thursday, December 1, with the Christmas Tree Lighting and visit from Santa Claus, on the City Hall Concourse. Also part of the 2016 events are the Somerville Arts Council’s Illuminations Tour on December 17, and a ceremonial lighting of a Menorah on the City Hall Concourse on December 24.

The annual Christmas Tree lighting will start the holiday festivities on Thursday, December 1, at 5:30 p.m., followed by a meet and greet with Santa Claus in the Somerville High School Highlander Café (atrium entrance). Santa Claus will be escorted by the Somerville Fire and Police Departments for the ceremony and will be available for photos following the tree lighting. All children attending the ceremony will also receive a gift from Santa. Live entertainment for the event will feature: the Somerville High School Band and the Somerville Community Chorus. Following the tree lighting, refreshments will be served at SHS, where children will be able to meet Santa.

On Saturday, December 17, residents and visitors are invited to the Somerville Arts Council’s Illuminations Tour. Tour guides will lead trolleys past some of the City’s most spectacular displays of holiday lights, sharing stories about the families that decorate and providing local historic trivia en route. Tours depart from the City Hall Concourse every 45 minutes beginning at 4:30 p.m. Refreshments, choral music and craft activities will be available inside City Hall.

Trolley Tour tickets will be available at the Blue Cloud Gallery, 713 Broadway, beginning Sunday, December 4. Tickets are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children and seniors. For more information, visit www.somervilleartscouncil.org.

Finally, a ceremonial Menorah Lighting will take place on Saturday, December 24, at sundown (approximately 4:15 pm). All members of the community are invited to join Mayor Curtatone and City staff for a brief ceremony and photo on the City Hall Concourse. The Menorah will be lit each night of Hanukkah.

For more information on the city’s holiday events, please contact Nancy Aylward at 617-625-6600 ext. 2100.

Individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication, written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures, in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Somerville or to attend meetings, should contact the city’s ADA Coordinator, Betsy Allen, at 617-625-6600 x2323 or BAllen@somervillema.gov.