AUSTIN, Texas – Nov. 14, 2022 – Dust off your ugly sweaters and kick off the 2022 holiday season at the annual Holiday Sing-Along, tree lighting and Holiday Stroll on Saturday, Dec. 3.
KUT 90.5 and KUTX 98.9 and the Downtown Austin Alliance collaborate on this event each year to bring Austinites together downtown through music and family-friendly activities. The event is free and open to all ages.
The Holiday Stroll, presented by the Downtown Austin Alliance and KVUE, begins at 5 p.m. and features a holiday market with local artisan vendors, photo opportunities with Santa Claus, local food trucks and live music performances from Classic Hiphop Live and Superfonicos.
The Holiday Sing-Along begins at 6 p.m., when crowds gather in front of the 45-foot Christmas tree at the south edge of the Capitol lawn to sing songs of the season. KUT and KUTX hosts Elizabeth McQueen, Diedre Gott, Susan Castle, Jacquie Fuller and Taylor Wallace will lead the songs. Complimentary keepsake song books will be available to attendees while supplies last.
The Sing-Along will include a tribute to longtime KUT and KUTX personality John Aielli who started the tradition in the 1980s and passed away in July.
Due to construction at the Texas State Capitol, this year’s Sing-Along takes place directly in front of the downtown tree, located at 11th St. and Congress Ave. at the south gates of the Capitol lawn.
The Holiday Sing-Along concludes at 7 p.m. with a countdown to the lighting of the downtown holiday tree. The tree features 137,000 LED lights and rotates through a programmed light show. The tree will stay up throughout the month of December playing holiday songs at the top and bottom of every hour featuring some of Austin’s favorite musicians, including Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel, Dale Watson, Vallejo and others.
The Central Texas Food Bank is this year’s Holiday Stroll nonprofit partner. They will be onsite at 10th and Congress Ave. accepting monetary donations. Every dollar donated provides four meals to keep Central Texans fed.
During the Holiday Stroll, Old Bakery & Artisan Emporium and the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation will be hosting the first public engagement event to get community feedback for a new mural on the south-facing wall of the park. Community members are encouraged to grab a hot chocolate and chat with a local artist, who will be transforming community input into an artist vision projected onto the future mural wall.
Once again, the Downtown Alliance is offering the Holiday Passport, a digital guide that allows you to win prizes for shopping and dining local between Small Business Saturday and the first week of January. Information for shoppers. Information for retailers.
The Holiday Sing-Along and tree lighting are two of the many fun and free activities taking place Downtown. Other events include: photos with Santa at Republic Square on Dec. 7; a family-friendly holiday movie on Dec. 14; a holiday-themed, inclusive community market on Dec. 9, and more throughout downtown all month long. Learn more about downtown Austin’s Y’alliday 2022 celebrations.
KUT and KUTX thank the following sponsors for helping make the Sing-Along possible: Mother’s Milk Bank, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Central Texas Food Bank, Fara Coffee, Fickle Pickles, Hyde Park Schools, Maudie’s Tex-Mex, Ten Thousand Villages and Whole Earth Provision Co.
Event Timeline
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, 5-10 p.m.
- 5 p.m. Downtown Holiday Stroll and live music begin
- 6 p.m. Holiday Sing-Along begins
- 6:59 p.m. Tree lighting
- 10 p.m. Downtown Holiday Stroll concludes
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