Join Mayor Curtatone and City staff for Somerville’s annual holiday celebrations, kicking off on Thursday, December 6, with the Christmas Tree Lighting and visit from Santa Claus, on the City Hall Concourse. Also part of the 2018 events are a ceremonial lighting of a Menorah on the City Hall Concourse on Sunday, December 9, and the Somerville Arts Council’s Illuminations Tour on December 15.

The annual Christmas Tree lighting will start the holiday festivities on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 5:30 p.m., followed by a meet and greet with Santa Claus in the Somerville High School Culinary Arts Bistro (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 Chorus, the Somerville Community Chorus, and El Sistema Somerville. Following the tree lighting, refreshments will be served in the SHS atrium, where children will be able to meet and take a complimentary photo with Santa.

On Sunday, December 9, a ceremonial Menorah Lighting will take place on the City Hall Concourse, beginning at 4:30 p.m., with Rabbi Eliana from Temple B’nai Brith. 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. Light refreshments will be served.

On Saturday, Dec. 15 (snow date: Sunday, Dec. 16), residents and visitors are invited to the Somerville Arts Council’s annual 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. Due to construction on the City Hall Concourse, tours will depart from the Somerville High School field house (use the atrium/public library driveway entrance) every 45 minutes beginning at 4:30 p.m. Refreshments, choral music and craft activities will be available inside the SHS atrium.

Trolley Tour tickets will be available at the Blue Cloud Gallery, 713 Broadway, beginning Sunday, Dec. 2. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and for children ages 12 and under. Please note: tickets may only be purchased using cash or check. For more information, visit http://www.somervilleartscouncil.org/illuminationstour.

For more information on the City’s holiday events, please call 311 (617-666-3311 from outside the City).

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 Manager of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Nency Salamoun, at 617-625-6600 x2323 or nsalamoun@somervillema.gov.