State College will light up for the holidays this week with the return of an annual event.
On Thursday, the Downtown State College Improvement District will host the borough’s third annual Light Up Night event. Presented as a winter carnival in downtown State College, the event will stretch from 5 to 8 p.m. on the 100 block of South Allen Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza.
Light Up Night will bring a host of activities downtown.
At MLK Plaza, Santa will arrive on an Alpha Fire Company fire truck as the event begins and will be on hand at the plaza for families to meet and take photos until 7 p.m.
Free trolley rides around downtown will be available from 5 to 8 p.m., and The Makery will offer arts and crafts from 5-7 p.m. The Lion’s Club provides free hot cocoa and popcorn and Juana’s, located at 129 S. Fraser St. next to the plaza, will offer a 10% discount on its entire menu throughout the event’s duration.
The annual light show designed by Nittany Entertainment will kick off at 7 p.m. in the plaza.
A handful of performers will help bring South Allen Street to life throughout the event. Scheduled acts include Tempest Productions street performers, the Nittany Valley Handbell Ensemble, the Central PA Dance Workshop, the Nittany Ballet and Penn State’s Pennharmonics a capella group. Kids and families can also pick up balloon animals presented by Nittany Balloons.
Local vendors will offer their own food as well. Auntie Anne’s will bring pretzels to the event, while Way Fruit Farm will offer its own hot cider. Webster’s Bookstore Cafe and the Corner Room will respectively offer cookies and grilled stickies, too.
Light Up Night will conclude when Santa lights the oversized evergreen tree at 7:30 p.m. at the Allen Street Gates alongside one lucky child. Families who donate a Toys for Tots toy or a non-perishable food item by 7 p.m. at drop boxes on Allen Street or the MLK Plaza can enter their child into a raffle to help Santa light the tree.
Guests also are encouraged to take a stroll to Locust Lane, where they can walk through an “enchanted forest” of trees decorated by local nonprofits and vote for their favorites. The nonprofit that decorates the winning tree will head home with a $1,000 gift.
Other decorated Light Up locations include Calder Way and Pat Daugherty Walkway.
Event organizers said Light Up Night offers a chance to celebrate the holidays while supporting local establishments and causes.
“We invite you to help us kick off the holiday season with this free community event and ask that you make the conscious decision to support our independent local downtown businesses during the gift-giving season,” Lee Anne Jeffries, the Downtown State College Improvement District’s executive director, said in a statement.
Those who can’t attend Light Up Night will still have a chance to get in on the holiday action this fall and winter. Free trolly rides will remain available on Dec. 2, 3, 9 and 10. Additionally, voting for the tree-decorating contest will continue through Dec. 4.
For more information about State College’s Light Up Night, visit the event’s Facebook page or the Downtown State College Improvement District’s website.
