REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - Huge crowds were gathered around the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand on Friday night to celebrate the official start of the holiday season with the Rehoboth Beach Christmas tree lighting.
"We get a whole group of people to come," said Kim Grebe, from Lewes. "We go to dinner before, hang out, sing, it's just a lot of fun!"
The evening started off with visits to Santa at his beach house on the Rehoboth Boardwalk, hosted by the Rehoboth Beach Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce. Santa is scheduled to be in town on Saturdays and Sundays between now and Christmas.
The official ceremony kicked off with performances by members of the Cape Henlopen High School band, in addition to music faculty and community members. The group played holiday favorites like "O little town of Bethlehem" and "Dreidel dreidel dreidel" from center stage on the bandstand.
Rehoboth Beach Tree Lighting
A crowd of over 1,000 people was gathered shoulder to shoulder around the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand on Nov. 29 for the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony, which included performances from the Cape Henlopen High School band and the Clear Space Theatre.
Clear Space Theatre singers led the crowd in an exciting sing-a-long.
At 6:30 p.m., performers from Clear Space Theatre led the crowd with a sing-a-long that included a mix of traditional songs like "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" and more modern favorites like Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is you."
"I liked the music," said Elena Vella, a young girl who came to Rehoboth with her family all the way from New York. "My favorite part of tonight was looking at the tree light up."
The tree, which had fallen over this year due to high winds shortly after being installed, was lit in all its glory shortly after 7 p.m. It will remain downtown throughout the holiday season.
