Join the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership in kicking off the holiday season by celebrating the lighting of the 22' tall Community Tree in the Memorial Garden of University Baptist Church on Sunday, November 29 at 6:00 pm. Enjoy the sounds of the church choir! Don't forget your camera - children can meet Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus and have their pictures taken for free! The community tree will stay up through the holiday season. University Baptist Church is located at 100 S. Columbia; at the corner of Columbia Street and Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill. Parking is FREE downtown on Sundays! Please contact us at  967-9440 or partnership@downtownchapelhill.com with questions. 

Parking is always FREE on Sundays in Downtown Chapel Hill, but this holiday season parking will be FREE on Saturdays as well! The Town of Chapel Hill will be offering downtown patrons and visitors FREE parking on Saturdays in December at all municipal lots, the Wallace parking deck, and at street meters. At 5:00 pm, the Wallace Deck and Rosemary/Columbia Lot will begin charging at their normal rate. Parking will continue to be free at the meters and other municipal lots.

The Chapel Hill -Carrboro Holiday Parade, presented by The Chapel Hill Jaycees, will be held on Saturday, December 12, 2009 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. The parade starts at the Morehead Planetarium and winds the entire length of Franklin Street to Carrboro Town Hall. Parking will be FREE downtown for the parade! Applications for parade participants are still being accepted - until November 21st. For complete details visit www.chapelhilljaycees.org.  

The Downtown Partnership and Friends of the Downtown are providing  businesses with strands of lights to illuminate their store fronts.  The 33' strands are FREE for the downtown businesses to hang up and create a warm and inviting atmosphere for their patrons. Both organizations appreciate how much the downtown businesses contribute to our community all year long and want to make their holiday season a little brighter! Downtown Chapel Hill's community tree, snowflake decorations, and merchants' strands of lights use light-emitting diode lights (LED) that offer the most sustainable options for our community. The LED lights are more economical than traditional light bulbs. The LED decorations last longer, have reduced maintenance needs and are better for our environment. The glowing lights in shops, along with the snowflake decorations and 22' Community Tree, will add to the holiday cheer and spirit all season long in Downtown Chapel Hill.

For information contact the Downtown Partnership at (919) 967-9440 or partnership@downtownchapelhill.com. To view daily sales, promotions, and events going on in Downtown Chapel Hill visit www.downtownchapelhill.com.