Our wonderful Old Pasadena Holiday Celebration kicks off this Friday, November 27 with Santa’s Arrival and Tree Lighting in One Colorado Courtyard.  Saturday and Sunday, more than 50 merchants and restaurants are participating in our Holiday Open House by offering special in-store promotions, treats and events. Every $50 you spend in Old Pasadena on Saturday and Sunday qualifies you to enter our drawing for a $1,000 Old Pasadena shopping spree.  More details here.

To prepare for the festivities, we have been working hard to “set the stage” in Old Pasadena.  Last week Anna Addis, our VP of Operations, stayed up all night long to oversee the annual installation of the Reindeer Decorations, which are placed on four rooftops in Old Pasadena via cranes and careful maneuvering.  This is done in the wee hours of the morning so as not to disturb the regular traffic flow.

Then Barton Designs installs the spotlights to highlight our reindeer friends in their perches above the hustle and bustle of Colorado Boulevard.  They also install projected lighting (“gobos”) of snowflakes and other holiday themes to cascade along the sides of Old Pasadena buildings and alley walkways.  This year we’ve added more locations around the intersection of Fair Oaks Avenue and Colorado Blvd.  Locations include Pottery Barn, Louise’s Trattoria, Crate and Barrel, Distant Lands, Schoolhouse Parking Garage, and several alley walkways.  So, look for them when you visit us.

Dekra-lite, another team of specialists, installs the  lit snowflake falls on the streetlights to round out the holiday decor.  Last year they installed the lighting on the glorious Ficus trees of Green Street.  It was such a success with residents, merchants, and visitors alike, that we decided to leave the lighting up year round.  Don’t miss this great evening photo op.

To top things off, this year we added almost 150 poinsettias to our landscaping around the parking garages and alley walkways.  We’ve even switched out the music on the alleys to light holiday fare… so don’t miss the celebration this upcoming weekend.  We are ready for the holidays to begin.