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Mayor Whitmire announces Reliant Lights Mayor's Holiday Spectacular for Dec. 7
Summary
Mayor John Whitmire and city partners announced the Reliant Lights Mayor's Holiday Spectacular will be held Dec. 7 in downtown Houston, featuring a 48-foot tree, headline performers Raelynn and Latoya Luckett, a Gingerbread Village, fireworks and accompanying City Lights programming through the season.
Mayor John Whitmire announced that the Reliant Lights Mayor's Holiday Spectacular will take place Dec. 7 in downtown Houston with an official tree-lighting ceremony and family programming.
The event, now in its 105th year, will include a public tree standing about 48 feet tall decorated with roughly 4,000 ornaments and just under 100,000 energy-efficient LED lights, according to Mark Parsons of Reliant, the event sponsor. "We're gonna bring the diversity of Houston together to celebrate a holiday season," Whitmire said, thanking corporate and community partners and inviting residents and visitors.
Mark Parsons said Reliant will headline the production and named two national recording artists — country singer Raelynn and Houston native and two-time Grammy winner Latoya Luckett — as headline performers, alongside a slate of local ensembles and school groups. "Today, I'm thrilled to announce that we will have not 1, but 2 musical sensations from the greater Houston area to headline this year's event," Parsons said, and listed local performers ranging from the Rice School Mariachi to the Houston Contemporary Dance Company.
Downtown Houston Plus president and CEO Chris Larson described complementary City Lights programming running through the holiday season. Larson said a distinctive red double-decker trolley will operate weekends from Nov. 22 through Dec. 28 with stops at downtown Holiday Villages and Market Square Park, which will feature a 40-foot tree with lights synchronized to music nightly. He also announced a new immersive installation, Snow Glow on the Bayou, at Allen's Landing running Dec. 20–28 with large-scale digital projections and soundscapes.
Susan Christian, the city's director of special events and producer of the program, confirmed logistical details for the Dec. 7 celebration. "December 7, 6PM is Reliant Lights Mayor's Holiday Spectacular," Christian said, adding that the Gingerbread Village will include free photos with Santa and that the evening will end with a fireworks display set to the Hallelujah Chorus. Christian warned of limited street closures around City Hall — Walker, McKinney and Smith Streets — and said parking will be available in Theater District parking and surface lots.
Organizers urged attendees to check downtownhouston.org for full schedules, trolley information and details about street closures. The event concluded with a brief question-and-answer exchange and a stage photo opportunity.
