![\"Bethlehem's](\"https:\/\/static.lehigh-v.lehigh-valley.production.k1.m1.brightspot.cloud\/dims4\/default\/87af10f\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4032x2268+0+0\/resize\/880x495!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flehigh-valley-brightspot.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2F1d%2F94%2F343f15884bd49e7ab9e2fb0b017a%2Fimg-1081.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Some were city residents, while others were visiting for the holidays.<\/p>\n
Bundled up battling the cold, many of them pushed strollers or led their dogs on leashes. <\/p>\n
Across Church Street, small pockets of people took a minute of their evening strolls to take in the atmosphere from a distance.<\/p>\n
But there was plenty of community to go around at Payrow Plaza on Friday evening, as the city flipped the switch on upward of 30,000 lights adorning a 43-foot-high, nearly 6,000-pound spruce. <\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for coming today and reminding us of the best that we are. And we are, together, creating happiness and joy for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds <\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for coming today and reminding us of the best that we are,\u201d Mayor J. William Reynolds said to the crowd. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we are, together, creating happiness and joy for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brought to life each year the day after Thanksgiving, the huge Christmas tree outside City Hall and the public library, along with other trees along city roadways, are hard to miss among Bethlehem\u2019s spread of holiday traditions.<\/p>\n
The tree was lit about 20 minutes into the event \u2014 but it wasn\u2019t the only splash of color. Lights lined nearby plaza trees, a little-brother Christmas tree and even the Town Hall rotunda.<\/p>\n
The Liberty High School Grenadier Band kept spirits up with peppy holiday classics. Cookies, hot cocoa and other refreshments all were within reach.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Will Oliver<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
LehighValleyNews.com<\/p>\n
Brought to life each year the day after Thanksgiving, the huge Christmas tree placed outside City Hall and the public library, along with other trees along city roadways, are hard to miss among Bethlehem\u2019s spread of holiday traditions. Photo taken on Nov. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n
‘Bring the Christmas tree to life’<\/p>\n
Santa Claus even made a guest appearance aboard a bit of a different sleigh than expected: a ladder truck with Bethlehem Fire at the wheel.<\/p>\n
LehighValleyNews.com<\/a> caught up with a couple of penguins on site for the occasion \u2014 doubling as members of Santa\u2019s team and Touchstone Theatre<\/a> of South Bethlehem.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re here to help bring the Christmas tree to life,\u201d Penguin 1 said, looking behind at the beloved spruce.<\/p>\n Will Oliver<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n LehighValleyNews.com<\/p>\n Brought to life each year the day after Thanksgiving, the huge Christmas tree placed outside City Hall and the public library, along with other trees along city roadways, are hard to miss among Bethlehem\u2019s spread of holiday traditions. Photo taken on Nov. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n Penguin 2 piped up quickly, \u201cAnd Santa\u2019s coming, too, so we\u2019re here to bring Santa in with all the joy and excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n The two weren\u2019t without company for the night. A Christmas pickle, snowman, turkey, tree, elves and the Big Man in Red himself could be seen at one point or another in the mix.<\/p>\n Touchstone Theatre will offer its Christmas City Follies program from Dec. 4-21. It features a brand-new program every year and \u201cvery talented people singing and dancing,\u201d according to Penguin 1.<\/p>\n Will Oliver<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n LehighValleyNews.com<\/p>\n Brought to life each year the day after Thanksgiving, the huge Christmas tree placed outside City Hall and the public library, along with other trees along city roadways, are hard to miss among Bethlehem\u2019s spread of holiday traditions. Photo taken on Nov. 28, 2025.<\/p>\n ‘Beautiful!’<\/p>\n For resident Louis Kucsan, 11, putting up the Christmas tree at his dad\u2019s house was a highlight of the week.<\/p>\n So naturally, a massive tree that can be seen across town was \u201creally bright and fun to watch\u201d on the first night of its seasonal gig, Louis said.<\/p>\n And he said other decorations, such as the large Advent candles just across the plaza, help it to all \u201cfeel Christmasy.\u201d<\/p>\n Kucsan, a student at Nitschmann Middle School, said the tree lighting would be even better next year if Santa flipped the switch.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved all the extra stuff they did. And the Liberty Band, my niece is in [it]. So we\u2019re very partial to the band.\u201d<\/p>\n Danielle, of Macungie<\/p>\n Danielle, of Macungie, had her two little ones \u2014 Sophia, 8, and Luke, 5 \u2014 in tow when they stopped to share their tree-lighting reactions and holiday plans to come.<\/p>\n \u201cBeautiful!\u201d Sophia said of the tree with a small hop, in what appeared to be excitement and maybe even an attempt to keep warm.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved all the extra stuff they did,\u201d she said, pointing past the plaza at a twinkling South Side.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the Liberty Band, my niece is in [it]. So we\u2019re very partial to the band.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of other seasonal sights to see, the family said they will visit IronPigs Illumination at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown and ride the Santa Train at the Allentown and Auburn Railroad in Kutztown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Some were city residents, while others were visiting for the holidays. Bundled up battling the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,4348,155,154,27767,27768,9490,27769,27770,2928,1076,27771,635],"class_list":["post-47346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-city-hall","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bethlehem-tree-lighting-ceremony","tag-christmas-city-follies","tag-christmas-city-usa","tag-christmas-in-bethlehem","tag-christmas-traditions-in-bethlehem","tag-j-william-reynolds","tag-south-bethlehem","tag-touchstone-theatre","tag-will-oliver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bethlehem's](\"https:\/\/static.lehigh-v.lehigh-valley.production.k1.m1.brightspot.cloud\/dims4\/default\/8246a36\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4032x2268+0+0\/resize\/880x495!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flehigh-valley-brightspot.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2F66%2F57%2F709d04284eb0a87919f94cb68003%2Fimg-1106.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Bethlehem's](\"https:\/\/static.lehigh-v.lehigh-valley.production.k1.m1.brightspot.cloud\/dims4\/default\/e086703\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4032x2268+0+0\/resize\/880x495!\/quality\/90\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flehigh-valley-brightspot.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fd2%2F7d%2Fea7710934b2eb2bf1f1d33678292%2Fimg-1083.jpg\")
<\/p>\n