Lights-On Festival Overview

This will be the 99^th year since Taunton became famous as “the Christmas City” with the first Lighting of The Green in 1914. Some 24 years ago a newly created non-profit dedicated to downtown Taunton’s  improvement and called Heart of Taunton, Inc., began to offer other activities on the same evening as the Green Lighting. Those wrap-around artistic, cultural, and just plain fun activities came to be known as the LIGHTS ON! Festival, drawing thousands of area residents each year for a special holiday evening.

The LIGHTS ON! Festival is a fantastic gathering for the City of Taunton, and is almost certainly the event which brings the greatest number of people to Taunton’s center at one time. Over the years, the Festival has featured both local talent, as well as several professional acts - including magicians, puppeteers and professional children’s performers and bands. A hayride and a trackless train typically each draw lines of youngsters, as do choral and dance extravaganzas, along with local theater groups. In short, the event attracts audiences and performers from all over New England.

This year the event will be held in and around downtown Taunton on Friday, Nov. 30^th from 5:30 PM - 9 PM; with some attractions starting at 4:30 PM. There are some very exciting changes in store for the 2102 edition, due to various Heart of Taunton organizational changes, including a new affiliation with the Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce.  The dropping of “button” (aka, admission) prices and adding of venues, may well double the number of people that will enjoy Taunton’s premier annual event. New offerings – e.g., a battle of the bands, for teens – will target something for all ages. The goal is to be truly family friendly, for all ages!