A Bangor tradition is making its annual return.
The Queen City’s massive holiday tree will be installed Thursday around 8 a.m., according to city spokesperson David Warren.
The tree was donated by Dan Sprague of Sprague’s Nursery and Garden Center, according to Betsy Lundy, executive director of the Downtown Bangor Partnership. Sprague has sourced and donated the tree to the city for more than 25 years.
The tree will again feature a daily light and music show, which was first added last year, according to Lundy. The show is programmed by Scott Stitham, technical director for the Collins Center for the Arts at the University of Maine in Orono, and sponsored by Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway.
The tree lighting, and the premiere of this year’s light show, will kick off at 4 p.m. on Nov. 28. The lighting coincides with “Plaid Friday,” Bangor’s annual shopping event that is designed to be a more laid-back, local alternative to Black Friday.
Shoppers are encouraged to wear plaid, and this year will be able to scan QR codes at some downtown stores where they can enter for the chance to win tickets to the “Miracle on 34th Street” musical at the Cross Insurance Center, Lundy said.
Bangor will also hold its annual Festival of Lights parade Dec. 6 at 4:30 p.m. with the theme “Unite for Good.”
Downtown Bangor’s holiday decorations come together with the help of more than 100 hours of volunteer time, Lundy said.
“It’s just a lot of different people all pitching in to transform the downtown and just make it a really magical place during the holidays,” she said.
Besides the tree, downtown decorations this year will also include lighting decorations on Columbia Street, North Pole and “Candy Cane Lane” displays, and 52 new lighted snowflakes that are going in on downtown street lamps, according to Lundy.
“It’s a great thing too, because a lot of people come home for the holidays,” Lundy said of the downtown festivities, adding that it’s an opportunity for community members who have moved elsewhere to come downtown and see how it’s changed in the last few years.
