Geneva Huang and Riya Kalra
The Los Angeles Union Station kicked off the holiday season with its ninth annual tree lighting, an event aiming to create a festive atmosphere that felt more like a forced formality. Held this past monday in the station’s historic Ticket Concourse, the occasion featured a towering Christmas tree, holiday decorations, and live entertainment, but struggled to capture the genuine spirit of the holiday season.
Free and open to the public, the tree lighting ceremony included a long-winded countdown set against banal holiday decor. Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins and Santa served as underwhelming hosts, overseeing the lackluster lighting of a 30-foot evergreen. Despite this, a significant turnout of Angelenos of all ages and backgrounds attended the event, showing strong community support and enthusiasm.
However, the timing felt off, as the event seemed to skip over Thanksgiving, jumping right into Christmas. While it is understandable that Christmas festivities often creep into late November, the ambiance lacked the true “winter wonderland” spirit of the holiday season.
Live performances by Kingston Ska Collective with members of Western Standard Ska Orchestra and Los Rebeldes Romanticos were sponsored by LA Metro Art as part of an initiative encouraging ridership and a sense of place through award-winning visual and performing arts. Both musical groups weren’t headliners by today’s standards, but they contributed to the vibrant mood and confirmed that it wasn’t just a regular Monday night.
The setlist included holiday classics in both English and in Spanish, yet the earnest bands failed to encourage the audience to sing along. The instrumental pieces muffled the Christmas spirit and could not promote the festive cheer they intended to produce. This gave rise to a dull climate of silent and underwhelmed spectators, obligated to remain sitting and watch background-like music play out.
On a brighter note, attendees enjoyed milk and cookies, courtesy of McDonald’s of Southern California, alongside arts and crafts. The event was well attended, well-decorated, and there were many photo opportunities for attendees.
Despite the uninspiring tree lighting, the gathering brought together people from all over Los Angeles County, something that was needed after the recent presidential election. This celebration had an underlying current in promoting the usage of the Metro and the Union Station, but what it truly accomplished was the vibrant unification and community engagement that LA lacked.
Los Angeles Metro presents Los Rebeldes Romanticos and sings “Winter Wonderland” before the tree-lighting ceremony.
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