With the holiday season approaching, many cities across the U.S. are getting decked out in festive lights, decorations, and music to get citizens into the spirit, while some are even going all out by hosting holiday festivals. Arcadia was no exception to this—on Dec. 9, a Christmas themed event, Sunday with Santa, was hosted at the Performing Arts Center (PAC). Tickets for this fun, family-friendly occasion were only $5 for regular admission, while children two and younger had free admission.

At this special event, families were given the opportunity to participate in a multitude of Christmas related activities. Children could meet Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus in person, take photos with the Claus family, tour through Santa’s workshop, and even enjoy a short storytime session with Mrs. Claus, while adults could indulge in the joys of winning prizes at the Raffle Row. The raffle consisted of prizes that ranged from gift cards to food items, but one special gift that everyone was pining over was the Platinum Prize, which was found in Santa’s Stocking and would allow the individual to enter a separate raffle to win tickets to Knott’s Berry Farm. Not only were the participants able to take part in these hands-on activities, but they also enjoyed a spectacular performance by actor Gene Hopkins, who was accompanied by the Arcadia High School Chanteurs, First Avenue Middle School Choir, Longley Way Elementary GLEE, and the Galaxy Girls.

The audience members were not the only ones who enjoyed the performance though; the performers equally enjoyed being on stage for this event. Junior Kaitlyn Phung, who is a Chanteurs member, said that performing at Sunday with Santa was an “especially fun experience since it allowed [her] to contribute to the holiday spirit.” While the Chanteurs’ usual concert choir performances require them to be formal, this event “had a much more festive vibe, enabling [them] to have more fun with [their] performance and to forge a better connection with both the children and adults attending.”

Arcadians of all ages were able to have lots of fun and get into the Christmas spirit during this popular festival. If you missed out on the event this year, don’t worry, it’ll be back next year, so you can enjoy it in the years to come!

Photo courtesy of TWITTER.COM