A Christmas tree lighting and Santa Claus parade will take place in Barrie on Saturday afternoon.
The tree celebrations start at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Santa Claus parade begins at 5 p.m. and is expected to roll through downtown Barrie around 5:30 p.m., with the official tree lighting occurring shortly thereafter.
The festival will include wagon rides, live music, fireworks, face painting, an outdoor screening of Miracle on 34th Street and free hot chocolate, with a donation.
The celebration will kick off the Noëlla Festival, which runs until Dec. 31 and includes the New Year’s countdown that’s put on by the city.
Starting Saturday, downtown Barrie will also have festive storefront window displays, a Rotary Festival of Trees, local crafters and artists, live music, visits with Santa Claus at Meridian Place and more.
Installation for Barrie’s 35-foot Christmas tree began on Tuesday. It’s a Norway Spruce sourced from Drydale’s, and this year, about 23,000 low-draw LED lights will be strung on it.
The tree will be in downtown Barrie until February and will honour the tree that stood at Memorial Square for decades, which was diseased and unable to survive transplantation.
Forty-one trees are planted throughout Meridian Place and Memorial Square.