Fir Tree Installed in Downtown Santa Barbara Ahead of Holiday Parade

Release Date: November 25,2019

A new 43-foot white fir tree gets installed in the middle of State Street in downtown Santa Barbara Monday morning. (Brooke Holland / Noozhawk photo)

By Brooke Holland, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @NoozhawkNews | November 25, 2019 | 2:00 p.m.

A 43-foot-tall white fir tree was installed in downtown Santa Barbara Monday, and the official tree lighting festivities will soon occur as the holiday season approaches.

A massive crane lowered the tree into place on State Street, between Sola and Victoria streets, near the Arlington Theatre. 

The evergreen captured the attention of several onlookers. People gathered on the sidewalk were heard giving “ohs” and “ahs." 

The towering tree will illuminate State Street during the annual Downtown Santa Barbara Holiday Parade at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6, which is the city’s only nighttime parade. 

The parade theme this year is “A Tropical Holiday,” and the event will feature hundreds of participants, holiday-themed balloons, performance groups, and marching bands. 

Holiday fairy Alexandra Arnold, 10, and prince Kevin Isais, 10, will lead the procession and light up the large tree along the route.

The grand marshal is Heal the Ocean, a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit organization focused on reducing ocean pollution.

The parade attracts more than 65,000 spectators, according to event organizers.

The tree was brought to Santa Barbara from Oregon by the presenting sponsor of the city's holiday parade, Goleta-based Consumer Fire Products, Inc.

— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

Crews get the tree ready for installation on State Street Monday morning.  (Brooke Holland / Noozhawk photo)