Tree Lighting Ceremony, Holiday Festival and Parade
(Jackson, Miss.) – The City of Jackson will be celebrating the holidays by hosting its annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony Friday evening and a Holiday Festival and Parade on Saturday. We encourage residents to come out and enjoy the celebration and holiday spirit!
Tree Lighting Ceremony
The annual tree lighting ceremony has become a tradition at City Hall and marks a transition to the Christmas and holiday season.
Mayor Lumumba and First Lady Ebony Lumumba will provide remarks ahead of the tree lighting, and the Forest Hill High School drum line will perform for those gathered in the City Hall Garden.
The celebration will begin at 5:30 p.m. tonight, with the lighting taking place at 6 p.m. Immediately following the live entertainment, remarks and tree lighting, the ceremony will transition to the 4th annual Capital City Lights holiday spectacular in downtown Jackson.
More information about Capital City Lights can be found here.
WHAT: Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday, December 6
WHERE: Jackson City Hall Garden
Holiday Festival and Parade
The holiday festival and parade will mark the second year in a row the city has hosted a Christmas parade after the pandemic, and we hope to follow up on the success of last year. The theme of the celebration is “Holiday Through the Ages.”
We are very excited to announce that the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the pre-parade festival at Jackson City Hall at 4 p.m., along with several singers, bands and other entertainment between 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will also be food truck options.
There are seven bands from schools across Jackson scheduled to perform in the parade, close to 20 floats, as well as dance troops, cheer teams, car clubs and numerous city, county and state officials making an appearance. Miss Mississippi and Miss Teen Mississippi are also expected to be in attendance.
This year’s parade is in honor of former Jim Hill High School band director, Chris Little, who died last year. His wife Anslesia will be in attendance at the parade and a special award will be given to the Jim Hill band. Blues Icon and fellow Jacksonian Bobby Rush will be the Grand Marshal of the parade.
The parade route will begin at the intersection of Jefferson and Amite streets next to the state Fairgrounds; continue down Amite Street, turn south on State Street, west on Capitol Street, south on West Street, east on Pascagoula Street, before turning north on Jefferson Street as it completes the loop. (Map attached).
**The Pearl Street bridge will be closed to traffic beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday.
WHAT: 2024 Holiday Festival and Parade
WHEN: 3 p.m. festival kick-off, 6 p.m. parade, Saturday, December 7
WHERE: Jackson City Hall, Downtown Jackson
