Christmas, Hanukkah Events In Columbia: Parades, Tree Lightings, More

COLUMBIA, MD — There are plenty of things going on around Columbia and across Howard County to celebrate the 2023 winter holidays.

Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, starts at sundown on Dec. 7, and ends at nightfall on Dec. 15. Christmas, of course, is on Dec. 25, but you don’t have to wait to start taking in all the sights and sounds of the season.

Menorah lightings in Howard County include:

• Chanukah on Ice, designed to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights, will take place Dec. 10 at ColorBurst Park, 6000 Merriweather Dr. in Columbia, and feature ice skating, face painting and the lighting of a 6-foot-tall menorah made of ice.
• Chabad Lubavitch will be facilitating several menorah displays and public menorah lightings in public areas, nursing homes and other locations around Howard County.
• A pre-Chanukah women's event where participants can make their own olive oil vase jug with artist Chana First will be Dec. 3.
• On Dec. 7, there will be a Hanukkah celebration at the Ellicott City 50+ Center, 9411 Frederick Rd. A kosher roast beef boxed lunch with trimmings and dessert will be included.
• Another Chanukah celebration also will be held Dec. 12 at Main Street and Ellicott Mills Road as the menorah will be light.

Christmas parades, often complete with Santa Claus, festively decorated floats and marching bands, are a holiday tradition, both nationally and locally.

Attending the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is a bucket list item for many families. If you can’t be in New York City, the parade will be livestreamed on NBC and Peacock, the network’s streaming service, from 8:30 a.m. to noon Eastern Time.

In Howard County, the 2023 Great Lisbon Farmers Feed the Hungry Christmas Parade - formerly known as The Lisbon Christmas Horse Parade - will kick off at noon in the historic town of Lisbon on Dec. 9. Festively decorated tractors driven by local farmers will lead the parade followed by up to 250 seasonally adorned horses both ridden and driven along the parade route down Old National Road (Frederick Road) Route 144. Parade patrons can shop for the season at the Days End Farm Horse Rescue's Santa Village before and after the parade from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., plus enjoy "Reindeer Rides" from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Holiday lighting displays are another holiday favorite. Some to catch in Columbia and across Howard County can be found on the 2023 HoCo Holiday Lights map. Join the celebration at the Lighting of the Bollman Bridge on Dec. 2 at 6 p.m., followed by a town tree lighting at Baldwin Common.

The annual Symphony of Lights kicked off Nov. 23 in Howard County. For more than 25 years, the light display at Merriweather Post Pavilion has dazzled visitors with its larger-than-life animated and stationary holiday light creations consisting of more than 300,000 bulbs. Each year, new displays are added. Symphony of Lights will run from Nov. 23 through Jan. 1. There is the drive-thru option and a walk-thru option.

There's also a live nativity at Mary's Land Farm now through Dec. 17. The Barnyard of Lights can be seen through Dec. 23 and leads you through the farmyard where visitors can see animals.