Christmas Under the Dome
The City’s tree lighting ceremony on the Museum Square will kick off the merrymaking at 4:45 p.m. Visitors of all ages can then head into the Museum for hot cocoa and adult eggnog to warm up before visiting the other shops downtown. In addition to the refreshments, the Museum will have live music, crafts, a festive photo op, model trains, live window display featuring a ferris wheel erector set from Bill’s Key & Lock, and a pop-up market featuring the work of young entrepreneurs until 8 p.m.
Saturday’s fun will commence with the Jaycee’s Holiday Parade concluding in Downtown Bloomington around 11 a.m. Santa will disembark from his firetruck sleigh and head into the Museum to meet with folks until 2 p.m. The Museum and its award-winning exhibits will be open and free to the public during this time, along with cookies, more hot cocoa, model trains, live music, and an Illinois Art Station art-making pop-up.
This year’s live music lineup includes a selection of holiday tunes by Marcos Mendez on Friday and a variety of community choral ensembles on Saturday. Cantus Novus will lead off Saturday’s performances at 11 a.m., followed by Sue Miller and the Wind Song Ensemble at 11:45 a.m., Loving Missionary Choir at 12:30 p.m., and Sounds of Illinois Chorus at 1:15 p.m.
Both days of celebration will also feature a model train display and a stunning new installation featuring over 700 hand-cut snowflakes cascading from the third to the first floor of the Museum’s 1903 historic courthouse building.
For more information, please visit mchistory.org!