The 52nd annual Dayton Holiday Festival includes a tree lighting, parade, street fair and lots of lights

Downtown Dayton will kick off the holiday season Friday, Nov. 29 with the 52nd annual Dayton Holiday Festival offering fun, free, family-friendly activities.

The headlining events for the festival, presented by AES Ohio, are the Grande Illumination and Dayton Children’s Parade Spectacular in Lights. The tree-lighting ceremony begins at 7 p.m. with approximately 50,000 lights prepared to brighten the festival tree, donated by Greg and Rose Kiener of Tipp City, at Courthouse Square, located at 23 N. Main St. Immediately following the tree-lighting, the parade will round the corner of Second and Main Streets complete with decorative seasonal floats, horses, drill teams and bands illuminated by more than 100,000 LED lights.

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

“The Dayton Holiday Festival has been a cherished tradition of our downtown Dayton community for more than 50 years, always keeping Mrs. Virginia Kettering’s mission and legacy at its forefront,” said Katie Meyer, president of the Downtown Dayton Partnership, in a news release. “This celebration is about bringing everyone in our community together to create lasting memories, regardless of economic means or any other factor. Helping make this tradition happen is a joy every year for myself, our staff, our sponsors, and our community partners.”

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The festivities begin at 3 p.m. In addition to enjoying horse-drawn wagon rides and the nostalgia of the Rike’s holiday window displays at the Schuster Center, the lineup includes live musical entertainment on the main stage sponsored by Sinclair Community College.

There will also be free carnival rides at the Street Fair on Third, crafts, performers and more kids activities in the Candy Cane Clubhouse at STRATACACHE Tower, the Junior League of Dayton’s book-centered Holiday Adventure sponsored by Wright-Patt Credit Union, and the Gingerbread Homes for the Holidays gingerbread house contest in the Old Courthouse.

Scheduled Main Stage performers include:

3:05-3:30 p.m. – Dayton Celebration Chorus

3:35-4:15 p.m. - SaxTone

4:25-5:05 p.m. – Tori Lee

5:15-5:55 p.m. – Café con Leche

6:05-6:55 p.m. – Sam King + The Suspects

Scheduled performers at the Candy Cane Clubhouse include:

3:00-3:50 p.m. – Magic by Dave

4:00-4:50 p.m. – Juggling by Crazy Craig Muhlenkamp

5:00-6:00 p.m. – Disney Princess Sing-Along and Meet & Greet

6:00-7:00 p.m. – River City Puppet Show

“While the Grande Illumination and the Dayton Children’s Parade are the main events of the Dayton Holiday Festival, the entire evening is about creating lasting memories,” added Jessica Sands, public relations and marketing manager for the Downtown Dayton Partnership. “The live entertainment, crafts, kids activities, rides, food, photo opportunities and so much more are a way for families and loved ones to spend the day together and just have fun to kick off the holiday season. The buzz from activities happening earlier in the day also just builds and builds to that exciting moment when we all come together and countdown to flip the switch on the Dayton Holiday Festival tree.”

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In addition the Dayton Woman’s Club, located at 225 N. Ludlow St., is an official warming station for the festival. Everyone is welcome to warm up anytime from 3 to 8 p.m. There will be coffee, hot cocoa and freshly baked treats available for purchase.

For more information, visit downtowndayton.org.

Credit: Tom Gilliam

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About the Author

Russell Florence Jr.

Russell Florence Jr. is team leader/coordinator of Lifestyles/Dayton.com. He has been an arts/lifestyles reporter for Dayton Daily News since 2012. He formerly served on the Dayton Daily News Community Board of Contributors and assisted the Dayton Daily News Editorial Board. He received his BA in mass communications from Wright State University.