Brownsville is getting into the holiday spirit with the lighting of the downtown market square.
Not only will the huge Christmas tree in front of market square be decorated with colorful lights, but all of the area around the market square will also be transformed with lights.
This is the first time the entire market square will be included in decorations, and city officials hope Brownsville residents will head out to the lighting, which is scheduled for 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, said Allan Garces, downtown manager, for the City of Brownsville. About 100,000 lights are being used to decorate the area.
“We have done the tree in the past and had ceremonies for the tree itself, but we haven’t actually been able to put lights on market square. It’s pretty exciting,” Garces said.
Officials have been planning the event since around Thanksgiving, and the lights around market square were hung in a period between three to four days, Garces said.
Garces said the city wants to make this year’s event extra special since it was canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We thought this would be helpful and beneficial to not just downtown Brownsville but all of Brownsville,” he said.
There will be music and performances that will showcase local talent, and the Brownsville Independent School District will be handing out hot chocolate to the children in attendance.
Also making an appearance at Thursday’s event will be Santa Claus. He will arrive at market square via a Brownsville Fire Department fire truck on East 12th Street.
Local restaurants will be open during the event for individuals would like to visit their eateries.
“We are hoping we can get people and have walking traffic for the businesses in the downtown area,” Garces said. “We are just really excited about this because this if the first time we are doing this. We are doing this for community. When downtown Brownsville is successful all of Brownsville is successful.”
The event is free and open to the public.
