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Christmas Events CalendarToday: Christmas on 5th Street: Sunday, December 4: Christmas Carillon Recital Monday, December 5: Christmas Carillon Recital Tuesday, December 6: Chamber Singers Christmas Concert |
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By Jessica Foreman
Staff Writer
Deck the quadrangle with songs of Holly (Tucker); ’tis the season to take a carriage ride and be jolly. Don we now our 5th Street apparel; troll the Baylor language department’s carol. Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Christmas on 5th Street is a traditional holiday event that students, faculty and Waco natives all look forward to in order to switch gears into the Christmas spirit. This year brings more festivities and fun for attendees.
Christmas on 5th is from 6 to 11 p.m. today and will take place at Fountain Mall, Burleson Quadrangle, Traditions Plaza and the Bill Daniel Student Center. The Baylor Activities Council, The Department of Student Activities, Kappa Omega Tau Fraternity, Baylor Religious Honor Choir and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority have worked jointly to bring Christmas on 5th Street together.
One of the newest additions to this year’s celebration is collaboration with the Mayborn Museum on University Parks Drive, which is featuring model railroad layouts. The event takes place in Anding Traveling Exhibit Hall from 5 to 9 p.m.. Baylor buses will transport guests between 5th street and the Mayborn Museum beginning at 6 p.m.
Matt Burchett, Baylor’s director of student activities, said another addition is the designer tree room in the Bill Daniel Student Center. Local artists and companies each decorated a Christmas tree unique to their stye, store or company tastes.
“The trees will be sold in a silent auction at the event with all proceeds going to local philanthropies,” Burchett said. “It is a great opportunity to purchase a beautiful tree while making a difference in our community.”
This year the department of Modern Foreign Languages will kick off the Christmas celebration by singing international holiday carols in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Korean, Italian and more at 5:45 p.m. in the Barfield Drawing Room. Christmas-themed movies will be playing in the SUB Den beginning at 6 p.m. with “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” and ending with “The Polar Express” beginning at 8 p.m.
Uproar Records will be featuring their student artists who plan to perform their favorite Christmas songs. Holly Tucker, Layne Lynch, Fifth & Fite and Trannie Stevens will be performing from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
“Christmas on 5th is such a great experience for Baylor students, and having the opportunity for our artists to play is incredible,” said Lincoln Faulkner, marketing and sales vice president Uproar Records. “We also have a lot of freshman performers who I am excited for, not only because they get to play for so many students, but because its probably the first time for some of them to attend the event. I’m sure it will be a memorable evening, both for them and the audience.”
Faulkner said having Baylor’s own students perform at such a cherished and traditional event will make this year’s Christmas on 5th Street even more special.
“All of our artists have been practicing and preparing like they would for a normal show,” said Ryan Anderson, Uproar Records president. “However, most of our artists have had to tweak their set lists to play more Christmas music. I’m really looking forward to hearing some cool Christmas arrangements from our artists that also showcase the genre of music they represent.”
Kappa Omega Tau’s annual Christmas tree lighting will be in Burleson Quad at 8:45 p.m., right after Nelo performs at 8 p.m. Nelo is an alternative rock band from Austin and has performed at Austin City Limits Festival, South By Southwest, The House of Blues in several locations and more. The sextet recently released a new single, “Old Friends,” and is planning to release other live tracks in addition to this single in an album form.
Local country artist Aaron Watson will also be headlining at the event and ending the series of performances at 9 p.m. Watson’s independent record label recently released his newest album, “The Road and the Rodeo,” on Oct. 12.
Guests will also have the chance to take pictures with Santa, decorate cookies, take family portraits and write letters to Santa on the second floor of the SUB. There will be a live nativity, pony rides and a petting zoo outside of the SUB. Carriage rides, cocoa and cookies will be available around Fountain Mall, and Fifth Street on campus will be lit with Christmas decorations. More information about the event can be found online.
