The city of Nampa lights up a giant Christmas tree to spread holiday cheer

The City of Nampa held its Christmas tree lighting ceremony Saturday evening as a large crowd gathered downtown to enjoy a festive atmosphere.

The Christmas tree was the star of the show, with the 54-foot-tall Colorado Blue Spruce towering. The city moved it downtown three weeks ago and a four-person team has been hard at work decorating it.

“There are about a mile of lights on it, which is about 20,000 lights,” said Adam Mancini, who heads the city of Nampa’s forestry department.

Mancini told us that the hard work was worth it because the community came together and got into the Christmas spirit.

“It’s exciting, it’s a magical moment for the city of Nampa,” Mancini said. “We love engaging the community and bringing the community here to celebrate this with us.”

Before the tree was lit, those present were treated to various musical performances to get them in the mood. These performances included the Boys and Girls Club of Canyon County Choir and a young lady named Clarissa.

“I’m proud of her because she gets nervous in front of crowds, so I think she did a phenomenal job,” said Clarissa’s mother, Ashley. “True,” Clarissa replied.

The town of Nampa made a day of it, starting with Mrs. Claus reading books in the library, then offering free carriage rides and the Winter Wonderland Market in full swing. It’s part of what Nampa calls “Shop Small Saturday” to support and celebrate local businesses.

It took a lot of work to put this together and volunteers helped make it happen. However, the people of Nampa were impressed by the celebrations and also the huge tree.

“This is our first tree lighting,” Ashley said. “Yeah, and for a giant Christmas tree like this, it’s super exciting,” Clarissa said.

If you would like to learn more about the effort that went into putting up the tree and who donated the Colorado blue spruce. Click here for a story our Nampa Neighborhood reporter Keith Burrell wrote three weeks ago.