Thursday night rang in the annual Boston Common Tree Lighting at one of the most iconic landmarks in the city of Boston. Being a college student in Downtown Boston really has its perks, and this is something I look forward to every year.
The celebration is meant to celebrate the long friendship between the province of Nova Scotia and the city of Boston when the city stepped up to help the Province after the 1917 Halifax explosion. The event went on from 5:30-8 pm and I arrived at the festivities around 6:30.
Can I just say, Boston really knows how to celebrate the holidays. When my roommates and I got to the event, it was packed to the brim with people. Honestly, I had not seen that many people in the commons since the Freedom Festival in September. Immediately, we were hit with the endless amount of sponsors, whose tents were littered around the grounds.
Image Credit: Lauren Comeau – Top; look on the crowd, Bottom; my roommate Hoaka taste testing the cinnamon Coke
There was everything from Coca-Cola, the staple Dunkin Donuts truck with free peppermint coffee samples, Drake’s cakes handing out free Ring-Dings, and Encore Casino giving the chance to win free merchandise. As a college student, nothing is better than free stuff.
After wandering around the tents for a while, we made our way to the stage, where there was a surplus of performances from local music groups, casts from upcoming Broadway shows here in Boston, as well as famous musician Matt Nathanson, who is a Lexington native (if you don’t recognize the name, his most well-known song is “Come on Get Higher”). Image Credit: Lauren Comeau
Although it was freezing outside as we stood listening to the music and I honestly could not feel my toes, it was a great way to ring in the holidays and get into the Christmas spirit. However, the best part of the night came at an unexpected time and was something I was not expecting at all. The announcers were talking about Dolly Parton’s new musical coming to the Emerson Colonial Theater when they announced that there was a special guest there that night. Not even moments later, THE Dolly Parton came out in her iconic glory. She was only on the stage for a few moments to promote the show and give her best holiday wishes to the city of Boston, but it was one of the coolest moments of my life, being a Dolly Parton fan. Not going to lie, my roommates and I were screaming our heads off at that point.
Image Credit: The Boston Globe
From then on, the night went by pretty quickly, and before we knew it, they were getting ready to light the tree! Counting down the moments with the rest of the people who came to witness this magical event, I waited in anticipation. Once the countdown hit zero, fireworks shot out into the sky as the tree was lit up with an array of colors. At that very moment, you could feel the holiday magic in the air. The 2019 Boston Common Tree Lighting was one for the books and I cannot see what is in store for next year.
Image Credit: Lauren Comeau