Carson City comes together again for annual Christmas tree lighting, Silver and Snowflake Festival

For more than a quarter century, Carson City’s own Silver and Snowflake Festival of Lights has rung in the holiday season for residents and visitors of the Nevada state capital.

After 28 years, the event continues to generate excitement for the yuletide while deepening the area’s sense of community.

“It heralds the official beginning of the holiday season that has become a home-town tradition in our community,” said Carson City Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ronni Hannaman. “Only in Carson City can you find this very traditional program able to be performed on the steps of the Capitol.”

Hannaman said promoting community cohesion and a better sense of togetherness has been at the heart of the festival since its inception in 1988. It’s a virtue, she said, that Carson City holds dear and takes a lot of pride in.

“The Silver and Snowflake Festival of Lights came about as a result of a community getting together under the Chamber umbrella to bring holiday cheer to this city during a time when the nation was experiencing yet another oil crisis,” she said. “Today, it still takes a lot of dedicated people to come together to stage this ‘production.’ ”

But the festival, she said, is also about celebrating the wholesome values of small town Nevada, which place great importance on community.

Carson City, in spite of its growth through the years, still retains much of this appeal, she said.

“There’s no place like the holidays in a small town and though we are no longer really considered a small town in the truest sense of the word, we have never lost that small town feel,” Hannaman said. “No other community can duplicate our introduction to the holiday season, for there is only one state capitol in this state. Here in the heart of Nevada, we do it up right.”

As in festivals past, the centerpiece of this year’s Silver and Snowflake Festival of Lights — sponsored by the Redevelopment Authority Citizens Committee — is still the state tree lighting ceremony on the Capitol grounds, scheduled for 5:50 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2.

The rest of Carson City, including the city’s Christmas tree located on the grounds of the First Presbyterian Church at 306 W. Musser Street, lights up at 6 p.m.

Another tradition continuing this year is the caroling music of Carson City fifth-graders, who Hannaman calls the festival’s true stars.

“Their dedicated teachers teach them the carols we so loved and they perform magic on the capitol steps,” Hannaman said. “If their energy and charming voices don’t put you in the spirit of the season, nothing will. This is not a night just for parents and grandparents, it’s a night for all who cherish the memories of seasons past.”

Children under 12 are invited again this year to enjoy complimentary ice skating after the tree lighting ceremonies, she said, at the Arlington Square Ice Rink, situated in the parking lot between Robinson and Spear streets.

The Carson City Empty Bowls Project culminates once again during the annual Festival of Lights with its big fundraiser held from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 306 W. Musser Street.

Empty Bowls in Carson City is a year-long effort of collecting and donating as many handmade bowls as possible to be filled with food to feed the area's hungry during the holidays.

Downtown Carson Street, between Robinson and Fifth streets, will be closed to automobile traffic starting at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 2.

This year’s event will be held on and around the newly completed downtown corridor, which officially opened Oct. 28, just before Nevada Day, after an eight-month construction process and redesigned the stretch of North Carson Street between William and Fifth streets.

The new downtown Carson Street is more pedestrian friendly, featuring wider sidewalks — as much as 20 feet in some places — cross walks that are about 40 percent shorter, as well as designated bicycle lanes on each side of the street, and more on-street parking.

Live entertainment will also be featured on the permanent stage at the recently completed Bob McFadden Plaza — formerly 3rd Street between Carson and Curry streets — which had its grand opening on July 31 of this year.

Another new feature of the 2016 Silver and Snowflake Festival of Lights is complimentary horse-drawn carriage rides provided by the Lake Tahoe-based Borges Family and their featured draft horses.

Carriage rides begin at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 2 at the State Capitol and run until 7 p.m. Friday night.

Finally, a group of Christmas carolers from Sierra Lutheran High School in South Carson City will be visiting open businesses in downtown Carson City Friday evening to provide holiday music and add to the seasonal ambiance, Hannaman said.

Below is a schedule of events for the 2016 Silver and Snowflake Festival of Lights in downtown Carson City, held Friday, Dec. 2:

— 4:30-7 p.m., Carson Street closed. Enjoy dinner at one of the local restaurants or visit the Carson City Empty Bowls Project fundraiser at the First Presbyterian Church, 306 W. Musser Street.

— 4:30-7 p.m., Free sleigh rides beginning at the Capitol by Borges Sleigh Rides and courtesy of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce.

— 5:30 p.m., Carson City 5th grade music students sing holiday favorites at the State Capitol with special appearances by Santa Claus and the Grinch.

— 6 p.m., Carson City lights up.

— 6 p.m., Carson High Chamber Choir sings carols at the City Tree Lighting located at the First Presbyterian Church, 306 W. Musser Street.

— 6 p.m., City Tree Lighting by Mayor Robert Crowell, corner o Nevada and Musser streets.

— 6:30 p.m., Holiday entertainment begins on the Bob McFadden Plaza Santa Stage. Free hot chocolate courtesy of the Elks Lodge #2177 and local Kiwanis Club. Free cookies courtesy of RE/MAX.

— 6:30 p.m., Caroling along Carson Street by Sierra Lutheran High School Carolers.