Santa to Stop in Easley on Friday

Now that Thanksgiving has passed and the rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday has passed it's time for Christmas. This weekend the city of Easley will kick off another holiday month with the annual tree lighting ceremony, a parade, and of course a visit from Santa.

"This year it's going to be bigger and better than last year," said DunBurks Premier Events Vice President of Operations Scott Buckheister.

This year the celebration will kick off with live music at city hall and the Pendleton Street gazebo starting at 5:30 p.m. There will also be horse and carriage rides leaving from the gazebo before the tree lighting ceremony begins. Buckheister said there will be a small fee for the rides, but the amount has not yet been determined.

"We hope people will come out and walk the sidewalks and see all that downtown Easley has to offer," Buckheister said.

At 7 p.m. the Easley High School Choir will entertain guests in front of city hall before the start of the Grand Illumination Ceremony.

"And of course Santa will be there," Buckheister added. In fact Santa will be downtown every Friday and Saturday evening from 6-8 p.m. so local kids can share their Christmas wishes.

Saturday morning residents will line the streets of downtown for the annual Christmas Parade, which will start at 10 a.m. at Easley High School. The parade will head north along S. Pendleton Street, west on Main Street and south on 1st Street back towards the high school.

This year there have been 60 entries for this years parade with more expected.

"A great number of those are going to be floats," Buckheister said. "That's more than last year and the years before."

Buckheister hopes to see a great turnout for the annual event and he assured Easley Patch that the weather would be perfect.