SAN ANTONIO – At 6:20 p.m. on Friday, it officially began to look a lot like Christmas in Travis Park.
The City of San Antonio kicked off the holiday season by lighting the nearly 50-foot Nordmann Fir Christmas tree — a gift to the city from H-E-B.
You can watch a livestream of the ceremony in this article starting at 6 p.m.
This year’s tree was sourced from Northwest Oregon and adorned with 10,000 white lights and dozens of colorful handmade ornaments.
The celebration was free to the public and started at 3 p.m. at the park, located at 301 E. Travis Street.
There were various activities for kids provided by the Doseum, letters to Santa, treats for pets, giveaways and musical entertainment by Mojo Rimba, the student marimba group led by Grammy-nominated teacher Bonnie Anderson, YOSA (Youth Orchestra of San Antonio), and Mariachi Las Altenas.
Santa joined Mayor Ron Nirenberg during the program.
After the tree was lit, there was a screening of “The Polar Express.”
This year’s H-E-B Tree Lighting Celebration marks the 38th year for the tradition.
H-E-B commits more than $250,000 every year for the transportation, decoration and lighting of the giant tree.