Brian Slattery Photos
A cold December temperature didn’t keep crowds away as New Haven celebrated its 111th tree lighting on the New Haven Green Thursday night, with an evening of festivities that included food and craft vendors, live music from bands and choirs, amusement park rides and activities for kids, and a visit from Santa Claus.
The evening’s schedule officially began at 5 p.m., and by 5:30 the Green was already bustling with families, lit up with festive lights from rides, and filled with the sounds of choirs from the bandstand in the center and laughing children everywhere.
The line to visit Santa Claus formed early, with each kid getting a chance to make a wish, and take a picture.
Choirs from several New Haven schools regaled the Green with seasonal songs and contemporary hits.
Lines also formed quickly for the rides, from a Ferris wheel to a merry-go-round to race cars that filled fast with eager children.
Dotting the Green were also several booths with activities, from the public library’s bookmobile to an arts and crafts station set up by the city. In addition, Vox Church had a popular tent in which kids could decorate — and then, of course, eat — cookies with frosting and an assortment of sprinkles.
The Holiday Village — a pop-up winter market with booths for 23 local artisans — was also in its third and final night of business, and on Thursday enjoyed a steady flow of customers. Among them was Tiffany Hsu of Yarnshaper, who has appeared at New Haven Pride and auctions for Palestinian aid. She was there with a panoply of plush creations, some drawn from the animal world, some from video games, and a few from food. She started crocheting about eight years ago when she learned from a friend. She started Yarnshaper as a business two years ago, kicking off at Pride in 2022. “I was really lucky,” she said. “A lot of friends and family really supported me to do this.” When she “finally felt confident in my crocheting skills,” she said, she saw that no other vendors in New Haven were making things that she liked to make: plush and stuffed animals. (She also cofounded Crafters of Color, described on their Instagram page as a “collective of Black, Asian, Latinx & Indigenous handcraft artisans based in New Haven, CT. We run events, boost each other, and have fun!”)
Asked about the aesthetics of her creations, she said that “everyone deserves a litte bit of cute, comfort, and joy in this world, and I think it is for all ages. The world can be tough and difficult, and it’s nice to have a little bit of nostalgia” and “connection with your inner child.”
This year was the first time Hsu had vended at the Holiday Village. “I didn’t know what to expect,” she said, but there are “tons of people here tonight. I think this draws people from all over the place … people from New Haven and beyond come out to this.”
In another booth, Melba Crowley of Designs by Melba offered an array of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings that emphasized her intricate beadwork. She sells her jewelry through her website and sometimes through vending; she has been a part of New Haven’s Holiday Village since it started in Shubert Alley in 2018.
Crowley has been beading for about 15 years; “it’s a hobby that went wild,” she said. She took a beading class at Books & Company “and watched for about a half an hour,” she said. “I guess it was for me,” because the next day she found herself at a bead show in North Haven, collecting materials.
“I used to sew and design clothes.” After collecting her first stash of beads, “I went home and I put my sewing machine away, and I’ve been beading ever since. It called to me, and the beads talk to me.”
She gravitates toward stones. “I pick them and I work them,” she said. “That’s what drew me to it” initially. She collects materials from a variety of sources. Many she gets at gem shows. Some, she travels to other countries to acquire; she has found beads in Australia. Some she finds at hobby shops like Michael’s and JoAnn Fabric. “If it clicks,” she said, she buys it. She mixes them together to come up with something, or creates pieces that focus on a specific material: turquoise chips, freshwater pearls, jade, amethyst, and lately, horn, which she acquired from a friend in the Philippines. “I get it from all over,” she said.
As the time drew near to 7:30 p.m., Mayor Justin Elicker was on hand at the bandstand to say a few words before the countdown to the tree lighting began. “It’s a great night in the Elm City! Is anybody cold?” he said. He led the crowd in a collective, joking shout of “No!” He noted that this was “our 111th tree lighting in New Haven — pretty incredible. This is a great year for us.” He then started off the countdown. The audience chanted with him, down from 10. The tree’s lights sprang to life, and a huge cheer rose from the crowd.
Bathed in the light of the tree, families and couples drew near to take pictures of each other and of themselves. People laughed and joked with one another, and kids kept cavorting across the festive lawn. It was easy to feel the connection to tradition — to past tree lightings attended in person, and to historical tree lightings almost no one alive is old enough to have experienced. Cellphones have almost completely replaced cameras, and many people don’t necessarily need another person to capture the image they want anymore. But year after year, something about that forest of lights in the middle of the city makes people want to stand near it, with the people they care about, and smile.