DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Santa and his helpers capped off yesterday's Honolulu City Lights Public Workers Electric Light Parade.
City light show continues
to be a crowd pleaserHoliday decorations and
music mark the start of the
annual downtown celebration
Georgie Kahalehoe has been attending Honolulu City Lights since the event began 19 years ago.
But this year was special.
"My granddaughter's a member of the Aiea High School Band," which marched in last night's parade, she said.
"It's just one big family gathering. I just enjoy it."
Last night marked the beginning of the annual city lights celebration, which includes holiday entertainment, choir performances, Santa visits and the illumination of downtown Honolulu through Jan. 4.
Thousands packed the sidewalks yesterday along the route of the city's electric light parade from River Street near Aala Park to South King Street in front of Honolulu Hale.
Children hung on the guardrails all along the way, entranced at the colors and sounds and squealing when a parade truck honked or its occupants waved.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Maya Peterson, 7, left, and Stephanie Auerbach, 6, were excited yesterday to look at what ride they wanted to try at the City Hall grounds before the Honolulu City Lights Public Workers Electric Light Parade.
"This is his first time," said Tobie Laimana of Honolulu, pointing to her 3-year-old nephew, Kyler, who stood open-mouthed at a light-adorned firetruck.
It was 3-year-old Evan Imata's first Christmas parade, too.
"We just felt in the holiday spirit," said his father, Ryan Imata, who stood holding his son and bouncing him up and down to the Christmas tunes played by the parade's bands.
Fifteen school bands, the Royal Hawaiian Band, and employees from Hawaiian Electric Co., Hawaiian Airlines, the Honolulu police and fire departments, and other companies and agencies marched in the parade.
At 6:30 p.m., Mayor Jeremy Harris lit the city's 65-foot Christmas tree, decked with 130 jingle bells and 400 musical ornaments, and the crowd aaahed and clapped. Earlier in the day, he attended a service at Kawaiahao Church.
The parade began about 6 p.m., proceeding east along North King Street, but hundreds of attendees had arrived hours earlier and set up chairs and blankets along the parade's route.
The event's festivities began at 4 p.m., with a concert featuring the St. Elizabeth School Praise Choir, Kou Manao and Edgewater, and were expected to wrap up about 9 p.m. with music by Hypersquad Dance Company, Henry Kapono and other local artists.
Kuulei of Waimanalo came with her family early and ate dinner on the sidewalk in front of the downtown post office.
"We come every year," she said. "Now my son's 12 and my oldest is 14. The kids like to come. Every year, things are different."
The parade, co-sponsored by the city and Hawaiian Electric Co., also featured garbage and fire trucks, a bus and the zoo train festooned with lights and decorations.
Police closed roads for the events, slowing traffic from Beretania Street to Dillingham Boulevard.
The city's Employees' Christmas Tree Exhibit and Holiday Wreath Display inside Honolulu Hale also opened yesterday and may be viewed from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, including holidays and weekends.
