Sights & Sounds Of Christmas To Spread Holiday Cheer Through Lights Display

Staff Reports

The COVID-19 Pandemic brings a lot of changes to the annual holiday season in San Marcos.

Sights & Sounds of Christmas San Marcos won’t hold its annual eight-day festival this year due to the pandemic, but the organization still aims to spread holiday cheer in 2020.

The organization intends to celebrate its 34^th anniversary with its regular light displays throughout San Marcos Plaza Park and City Park.

However, this year’s light display will also continue from the park into downtown to the Square.

“Obviously, the 5k and the Jingle Bell run were canceled earlier in the season,” Daniel Guerrero, Media Contact for Sights & Sounds, said. “The festival has been canceled, but what the committee has decided to do is still do our best to light up and decorate the park area and portions of downtown with our holiday lights and holiday decorations.”

Guerrero said the goal of sights and sounds this year is to use the sponsorship funds the organization has received in a “challenging year” to bring a little bit of Christmas cheer through decorations and lighting.

According to Guerrero, the lights and decorations typically remain up throughout the month of December and into the new year.

“We certainly wanted to keep the health and welfare of the entire region as a top priority,” Guerrero said. “Hosting any type of event was going to have too much risk for our vendors, for our guests, for everybody. So, it was best to just go ahead and follow the lead of other events…that canceled their events for the year.”

The Sights & Sounds of Christmas Foundation announced in October the annual Jingle Bell and 5k Run would be canceled for 2020.

At the time, they were still exploring their options for the annual festival.

The annual event traditionally attracts more than 50,000 visitors from the surrounding communities and beyond, according to the city.  

During their Nov. 4 meeting, the San Marcos City Council directed staff to allocate $80,000 in funding to support Sights & Sounds 2020.