Reno’s official Christmas tree lighting ceremony took place Friday at City Plaza, kicking off the city’s two-day Holiday Lights Festival. The event featured food vendors, artisans, car clubs and an appearance by Santa, who posed for photographs with children and families.
Braving the bitter cold, the event quickly grew from a few dozen in the afternoon to the hundreds as the tree lit up the grey night sky. Local musician Nick Eng performed for the crowd before and after the lighting, which featured a group of “Junior Mayors” who assisted Mayor Hillary Schieve with the official lighting.
Shieve told This Is Reno that the event focused this year on activating downtown and the city’s desire for people to “really come down and enjoy each other” during the holidays.
“People are experiencing more loneliness and isolation,” she said, “It was really important to me (and the city) that people could come out and enjoy starting off the holiday.”
Many of the attendees on hand also were there to engage with the community. Melody Barron said she was here in Reno on a trip visiting family and decided to come down with her family because it was their first Christmas tree lighting and sounded like something fun.
Gina Rangel from the Wicked Ways car club echoed this sentiment and said city officials invited them down to “light up the low-riders.”
Ruth Wayrynen, who is the 2023 Mrs. Reno, told This Is Reno the event was an excellent opportunity to advocate for Wings For Autism and that she and her husband were having a great time at the City Plaza.
