<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3KuEHh_1GmwRE9100" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3KuEHh_1GmwRE9100" width="1620" height="1080" ></figure>STATE COLLEGE — Downtown State College will welcome the holiday season Nov. 19 with Santa, local performers, small businesses, markets and an evening of lights and activities along Allen Street, Calder Way and Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza.Light Up Night will run from 5 to 8 p.m. and include a trolley ride through downtown, a holiday light show, visits with Santa and a chance for families to help kick off the season by lighting the tree.“Light Up Night kind of kicks off like the holiday season how we think about it,” said Joseph Quinn, who goes by JQ and works with the Downtown Improvement District.Santa is expected to arrive around 5 p.m. at College Avenue and Allen Street. He’ll be available to meet children and hear what they hope to find under the tree until 7 p.m. Families can also enter a raffle for a child to join Santa in lighting the holiday tree at about 7:30 p.m.“Santa is a big draw,” Quinn said.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1cYU5y_1GmwRE9100" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1cYU5y_1GmwRE9100" width="1280" height="1920" ><figcaption>Light Up Night is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Courtesy of Helen Velásquez Photography</figcaption></figure>The evening’s schedule will feature performances by four local groups. Allen Street will host an artisan market, while Calder Way will be home to the Chris Kittle Market, organized by the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. The market will feature young local makers, similar to the Kids Day marketplace at the Arts Festival.Visitors can also find refreshments from vendors including Edu Coffee, Naughty Nuts and Happy Valley Polish Water Ice. Quinn said some downtown businesses will open their doors as warming stations, and several plan to offer activities inside for people stopping in to get out of the cold.Community organizations and businesses take part in different ways, Quinn said. Some groups have participated for years, including the Lions Foundation. Other businesses along Allen Street and downtown are invited to join in, whether by hosting an activity, serving as a place to warm up or setting up as a vendor.A free trolley will run throughout the event, offering rides around downtown to see the holiday lights. Organizers plan to illuminate the street trees with string lights and hang snowflakes from street poles for the celebration.The annual light show in Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza will begin at 7 p.m. on Light Up Night. The display pairs lights with music and will run on a loop nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. through the end of the year. A special show for First Night will run from 5 p.m. to midnight Dec. 31.Light Up Night also marks the start of the Enchanted Forest on Locust Lane. Ten local nonprofit organizations will decorate evergreen trees and community members can vote for their favorite by scanning a QR code. Voting runs through Dec. 6, and the nonprofit with the winning tree will receive a $1,000 donation.Visitors can support two additional community programs by bringing new toys for Toys for Tots and nonperishable food for the YMCA backpack program. Donations will be collected along Allen Street.For Quinn, the event’s value goes beyond the lights, markets and visits with Santa. He hopes people who come downtown will see familiar faces, meet neighbors and feel part of the community.“I think this event where you can really see kind of the community come out,” Quinn said.Light Up Night is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, on the 100 block of Allen Street, in Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza and along Calder Way.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2Q3tV6_1GmwRE9100" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2Q3tV6_1GmwRE9100" width="1920" height="1280" ><figcaption>The annual light show in Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza will begin at 7 p.m. on Light Up Night. Courtesy of Helen Velásquez Photography</figcaption></figure></div></body>

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STATE COLLEGE — Downtown State College will welcome the holiday season Nov. 19 with Santa, local performers, small businesses, markets and an evening of lights and activities along Allen Street, Calder Way and Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza. Light Up Night will run from 5 to 8 p.m. and...

Holiday magic returns to State College

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STATE COLLEGE — Downtown State College will welcome the holiday season Nov. 19 with Santa, local performers, small businesses, markets and an evening of li

Holiday magic returns to State College

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