Columbia County has a full day of festivities planned for Dec. 5 to launch the holiday season.
Christmas in Columbia County is scheduled to kick off Sunday afternoon with the Holiday Market. Over 45 vendors, including snack and food trucks, will be accessible during the market, which is scheduled to be open the duration of the festivities.
Not long after the Holiday Market opens, Santa Claus will make an extended appearance for Pictures with Santa. Children will be able bring their letters to Santa or write them on the spot and send them off via Santa’s Mailbox.
All of this is free, and slated to happen at Evans Towne Center Park, complemented by Evans on Ice, which has already been open since Nov. 17. The Evans-Martinez Christmas Parade, which is coordinated by the Merchants Association of Columbia County, starts the same day at 3:30 p.m., with its route ending at Evans Towne Center Park, in order to tie all the events together as they culminate in the Christmas Tree Lighting Program.
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The lighting ceremony should be at about 6:15 p.m., or at dark, complete with an invocation and a final illuminating of the tree, and then fireworks will complete the evening. The traditional yuletide beacon will remain lit, along with the other Christmas light displays, through the beginning of 2022.
The county has hosted the tree lighting for about 10 years. Janet Wheatley, Columbia County Programs and Events Manager, says that the dense, diverse and mostly free Christmas celebration is in tandem with the mission of the Community Services Department, to help people make good memories to share with their families years from now.
“People remember,” said Wheatley. “We just like to be that person where, years down the road, when everybody’s sitting around talking: ‘remember that year we went to the Christmas tree lighting?’ They know so next year they can go, “Oh, let’s go back to Christmas in Columbia County. And let’s make some new memories.”
Christmas in Columbia County starts on Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. at Evans Towne Center Park. For more information, visit its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/events/421431752912509. For routes for the Christmas parade, visit https://columbiacountyfair.net/christmas-parade/.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
