Christmas, Hanukkah Events In Edison, Metuchen: Parade, Lights & More

EDISON, NJ — There is no shortage of things to do in Edison and Metuchen to get the winter holiday season off to a rollicking good start.

Christmas and Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, intersect this year, with Hanukkah running Dec. 18-26. 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 holidays.

Tree and menorah lightings in Edison, Metuchen are:

• December 3, at 5 p.m. Edison will host its Christmas Tree lighting event. The Menorah lighting ceremony will take place Dec. 18 at 1 p.m.
• UPDATE: Metuchen's Tree Lighting scheduled for this Sunday after the Winter Festival Parade is now rescheduled to next Sunday.

Beginning Dec 3 to 18, Edison will host its first Winter Wonderland and Marketplace at Papaianni Park. There will be an ice skating rink, 100,000 lights on display, trackless train rides, story time with Santa and Mrs. Claus, a winter tavern, live music and more.

Metuchen Lights will return again this year. Beginning Nov. 25 through the new year, Metuchen Downtown will dazzle with festive lights. You can shop under the lights, have a holiday meal or enjoy a cool winter walk.

There will also be caroling in Downton Metuchen on Dec. 11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. To reserve a spot, click here.

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

(UPDATE: The Metuchen parade scheduled for Sunday is now canceled) Metuchen will kick off the Christmas season with the Annual Winter Festival Parade on Sunday, Nov. 27. Parade begins at 4 p.m. in the Halsey Parking Lot and proceeds down Wernik Place to Main Street to New Street to the Borough Plaza. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at the Plaza to assist with the Tree Lighting.

Several big parades are taking place this year, including the Mayor’s Annual Christmas Parade in Baltimore City, Maryland; and the Christmas Boat Parade in Newport Beach, California.

Holiday lighting displays are another holiday favorite. Some to catch in YOUR STATE are:

• Winter Wonderlights, Cranbury Road, East Brunswick
• Winter Walk, Millburn

(Clarification: An earlier version of this story mentioned the defunct Target Holidazzle Parade in Minneapolis, which no longer takes place)