‘Tis the season to once again celebrate at the annual Kearny Tree Lighting Festival Thursday, Nov. 30. from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 402 Kearny Ave.
The evening begins on the steps of Town Hall with a concert featuring local performers of all ages, including the Kearny High School Jazz Ensemble, the West Hudson Arts & Theater Company Chorus, the Next Step School of Dance, the Hudson Arts & Sciences Choral Group and the Kearny High School Chorus, among others.
At 6:30 p.m., Santa arrives to help Mayor Carol Jean Doyle, along with members of the Town Council, sponsors of the night, light the tree.
Festivities then move to Town Hall Park, where Santa, joined by Mrs. Claus, will be on hand for photo ops with children (12 and under) until 8:30 p.m. Santa will hand out holiday gifts and goodies while supplies last.
The merry making continues throughout the park with free events and activities until 8:30 p.m.
In the park, families may enjoy performances on the Jingle Bell Stage, where special guests Mirabel and Isabella will perform and then be on hand for a meet and greet. Other activities hosted by various businesses and community groups include face painting, holiday ornament and balloon making, a life-size snow globe, a special Letters to Santa station and more.
The Kearny UEZ will also be on hand with its annual giant free toy raffle.
Kearny Avenue will be closed between Liberty Street and Quincy Avenue throughout the event.
Visit www.kearnynj.org or follow the KUEZ on Facebook and Instagram for more information.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.