Santa Claus Comes To Salem Friday Night

SALEM, MA — Santa Claus is comin' to town on Friday night.

The big man in the red suit will be sleighing his way to the Witch City on his way to his traditional landing spot atop the Hawthorne Hotel at 6 p.m. sharp. Salem residents are then invited to do their best Christmas waltz on down to Lappin Park where the city will host its annual tree lighting.

The Salem Fire Department will assist Santa's arrival at 18 Washington Square W before those in attendance are invited to carol their way down the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall to Lappin Park where Kris Kringle will join Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll and carolers from History Alive for the tree lighting.

Participants are encouraged to bring lanterns — store-bought or homemade — to carry, with electric candles highly recommended.

History Alive will then stick around downtown for a night of music and caroling to ring in the holiday season as part of the Salem Public Art Commission's "Merry & Bright" series of free performances this holiday season.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)