Sundance Square In Fort Worth To Keep Christmas Tree But No Public Lighting Ceremony Or Santa This Year
UPDATE: Another Management Change For Fort Worth's Sundance Square
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Fort Worth's Sundance Square will have a Christmas tree this year, but the lighting and holiday nights downtown will be more silent than usual.
A spokesman confirmed Wednesday a 55-foot blue spruce tree will be installed in the downtown space. There will not be a public lighting ceremony though, and also no Santa Claus during the holiday season.
Traditionally the tree lighting is a popular event in the city, coordinated around the Parade of Lights, theater performances and the holiday shopping season.
The GM Financial Parade is happening Nov. 22, inside the Fort Worth Convention Center and will be broadcast on television and online. There was no information on when the tree might go up and, until Wednesday, wasn't clear if there would be one. Downtown theaters that often hold holiday performances, including the nearby Bass Hall, have no performances scheduled.
In a year where some North Texans have strung up lights and started seasonal celebrations early, few decorations are up yet in the city's downtown.
"You would expect to see all the Christmas decorations going into Thanksgiving, at least, and there's nothing up yet," said Emily Reiss, who just moved to the area from California and was at the square Wednesday.
"To not see anything, saying its Christmas time, or almost Christmas time, it's kinda odd for sure."
A few retail stores around the square have started to put holiday decor in windows, and some buildings have decorations. The Sundance Square spokesman said decorations would be coming, but details were still being planned.