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Holiday Festival & Tree Lighting
Your guide to enjoy the largest municipal tree in Arizona!
Marana is known across Arizona as a family-friendly community and we go all out to make sure everyone can celebrate the holidays in a big way. So big in fact, Marana’s Christmas tree is 45 feet tall with 18,000 lights! This is the largest municipal tree in the state of Arizona! Additionally, there are over 100,000 Christmas lights wrapped in our landscape trees that dance to holiday music along with the Christmas Tree!
Just how tall is 45 feet?
- You could stand a semi-truck or school bus up next to this tree!
- It’s as tall as a 4-story building!
- It’s taller than the “H” in the Hollywood sign in California!
This annual event is held on the first Saturday in December every year; but the town also hosts a nightly tree lighting show the rest of December to ensure this dazzling display can be seen throughout the festive season.
![close-up, looking up a holiday tree decorated in white lights and red ornaments, topped with a star](https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-favs86.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=1506124a00da40d0301d2dfccf569ba6 320w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-favs86.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=34ccdb050ef83d2f6c1c3482d911d271 540w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-favs86.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=d0bead5f64aa09c3c960bf4c22b89652 768w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-favs86.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=6801d5327da5646a66e5c597ae00ec2c 1024w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-favs86.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=3ebd9366d0e9c36562b3926879366210 1200w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-favs86.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1440&s=d96298fd3c393947c06bf8db8b9e1a0c 1440w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-favs86.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1920&s=8178dc4df46df0bf378517296dbe46ed 1920w)
Here’s our guide to the Marana Holiday Festival to help you plan your day!
If you like to get in early and pick a great parking spot, you will want to head over to the Marana Municipal Complex in Downtown Marana at 3pm for the start of the festivities. All parking is free for this event! Live music, performances from local bands and dance organizations, and activities for the kids will be set up and ready to go along with more than 30 food trucks. Insiders Tip: Santa usually arrives in a mini-parade at 2:45pm!
![A band wearing santa hats performs on stage to a crowd of people](https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-171.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=320&s=376cb6512ce5349a0ee0e98321cf1fc5 320w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-171.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=540&s=33b3d7039c9af3c1d651c7cffdff8591 540w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-171.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=768&s=ce1f27a1d5931f9966523df0f6d514f4 768w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-171.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1024&s=e3279ccc2d6b00e7d1a7d471f5bada58 1024w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-171.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1200&s=e6de7d29eff1ae491a9f390851283f86 1200w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-171.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1440&s=d38a12f544036929c6ec25cd83006c8c 1440w, https://marana.imgix.net/images/blog-images/marana-holiday-tree-lighting-2021-171.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&position=50%2050&q=80&w=1920&s=05685d812c70f22a3f84fdd50e63ac15 1920w)
After all that shopping and playing, the food trucks and vendors will be ready for you with everything from pizza to Sonoran Hot Dogs (a bacon-wrapped hot dogs topped with beans, onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise, mustard, and salsa), specialty coffees, hot cocoa, and of course, fry bread and other tempting desserts.
The highlight of the festival will be the debut of Marana’s new 45-foot tall Christmas tree with 18,000 lights at 6:00pm. The tree will be accompanied by a musical light show synchronized to over 100,000 lights in the landscape trees for a 13-minute show. There will be an encore show at 8:30pm.
The light shows continue in Downtown Marana throughout the month of December, starting every half hour from 6 pm to 9pm. It’s free to park and hang out all month long. Many families in the area come out on Christmas Eve to see the show before tucking the kids in for the night!
The Details
Holiday Festival & Christmas Tree Lighting 2024
When: December 7th, 2024
Where: Marana Municipal Complex, 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana, Arizona 85653 (just off the Marana Rd exit from Interstate 10)
Who: Everyone is welcome and the event is FREE, including free parking. Bring cash for shopping and food if you’d like.
Don’t miss this opportunity to make memories in Marana!