Riverfront Plaza, the new downtown park that stands on the old Jacksonville Landing site, will be the venue for Jacksonville’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony this year.
The park, which is close enough to completion of its first phase to play host to the event, will feature the city’s official tree, which has been in James Weldon Johnson Park in recent years. The lighting ceremony, scheduled for 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29, will lead into the city’s Light Boat Parade and the “waterfall” fireworks display that pours sparks into the river from the Main Street and Acosta bridges.
The free event kicks off at 5 p.m. with performances from the Scott Jones School of Dance, Sk8hers Inc. and actors from “Elf: The Musical,” which will be showing at Alhambra Theatre & Dining through the holiday season. Mayor Donna Deegan and WJXT’s Rance Adams will lead the lighting ceremony at 6:15 p.m. The boat parade is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m., and the fireworks display is expected to start around 8 p.m.
Food trucks and face painters will be on hand and snacks and hot cocoa will be available.
The boat parade is visible from either side of the river, and there will also be activities scheduled at Friendship Fountain. The fountain will debut its new holiday light-and-music show and a “silent disco,” where people listen to holiday music on rented headphones, runs from 6-9 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Christmas tree lighting moves to new Riverfront Plaza
Reporting by Tom Szaroleta, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
