Santa Coming to Todos Santos Plaza

Santa is parking the sleigh this December and coming to Concord on a fire truck.

Flanked by elves, Jolly Old. St. Nick will ride into Todos Santos Plaza on a bright red fire truck this holiday season. He’ll visit with the children to hear what they want for Christmas, and maybe cross-reference their statements with the parents to see who’s really been nice this year. Santa is one of the many entertainers who will adorn downtown Concord in December.  

Dan Ashley, ABC7 news anchor, will emcee Concord’s annual holiday festivities on the Todos Santos stage, where residents will find musical and visual performance artists. The performances begin with vocal tributes to the season by church choirs. The lineup includes the Queen of All Saints Choir, the Fair Oaks Choir, and the Calvary Temple. Musicians in the Concord High Jazz and the Salvation Army Bands will open up for the main events, the mayor’s sing along session and Christmas tree lighting.  

The annual lighting ceremony, now more than two decades old, promises to unveil a preview of the city’s economic climate. In 2009 Concord’s tannenbaum was a physical manifestation of the city’s fiscal health. Former Mayor Guy Bjerke told USA Today that the city had cut $8 million from the budget and laid off people that year. Instead of spending about $20,000 to import a tree, the city decorated a tree that grew in the plaza. It was renowned as The Charlie Brown Tree, complete with gangly branches laden with ornaments. Some loved it; others loathed it.

This year, the city will festoon two trees, said Florence Weiss, downtown program manager for the city of Concord. One is a live tree that was planted after “The Charlie Brown year.” It’s small, but growing. The second tree is a much older and larger tree. The lights illuminating the older tree will glow upon the bark of the younger tree, as the city lights the way for small businesses to grow in Concord.    

The display will be doubly special. The event falls on Pearl Harbor day this year, which is usually celebrated by lighting a beacon on Mt. Diablo to commemorate the World War II attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor veterans will be honored in the program, with the lighting of the trees and a commemorative button. Local student Amanda Dahlgren incorporated the imagery of Mt. Diablo into the buttons she designed for the event. She will be in attendance talking to residents about her design. She will also give the buttons away.

Just before the tree is lit, Concord’s new mayor will lead the people in holiday songs such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and other American classics. Volunteers will hand out songbooks with lyrics. Nearby, downtown businesses will have candy canes and cookies.

The event is free and open to the public. Organizers encourage parents to bring cameras to capture their child’s visit with Santa.