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Westbrook is Ready to Ring In the Holidays

On Sunday, Dec. 5 Westbrook residents will be able to celebrate the holidays, thanks to the return of the annual Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting.

Beginning at 4 p.m. and running until 6 p.m. on the Town Green, the night will feature a parade, ice carving, food, crafts, a reindeer-food making station, live music, horse-drawn carriage rides, donkeys, a bonfire, a candy-counting contest, and, of course, a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. Best of all, the entire night and all festivities are free. This year the town’s tree will be lit by Westbrook Ambulance.

In there is bad weather the event will be canceled, but Kim Esposito, one of the event organizers, said that Santa will still make an appearance.

“In the case of rain, Santa will be on a firetruck around town at a later date. Check our Facebook page for details,” Esposito said.

The Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting has been a tradition in town for more than two decades, but due to a high rate of COVID-19 cases during the holidays in 2020, the event had to be called off. Esposito said that with the event back on this year, the anticipation is through the roof.

“We have more stage acts than ever before,” said Esposito.

Though some aspects had to be slightly scaled back or altered, Esposito said that , basically, everyone’s favorites will return.

“So far everything is really back, but we won’t have the hot food like the soups this year, just cold food like cookies, donut holes, and drinks,” said Esposito.

Additionally, visitors won’t be going into Santa and Mrs. Claus’s house this year.

“They’ll be outside because of COVID but the kids can still walk by and say ‘Hi’ to them,” said Esposito.

There will be some new aspects to the night as well. Esposito said that there will be some stores in the downtown that will stay open for people to checkout and in an effort to appeal to people in town who speak Spanish, one of the musical acts will features songs in Spanish.

“We’re going to have many local talents up on the stage,” Esposito said.

For Esposito, the best part of the night is the community atmosphere of the day that will surely be a welcome sign of some normalcy after 2020.

“I just love how the community comes together on what’s usually a cold night and everyone is there to celebrate and is in a good mood,” said Esposito.

For more updates residents can check the website www.westbrooktreelighting.com or the Facebook page “2021 Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting.”