Temple Square lights up for holiday season


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SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of people converged on downtown Salt Lake on Friday, some for the traditional Black Friday shopping and others for the lightings of Temple Square and the Gallivan Center.

"Tonight is certainly a big night, and we're anticipating lots of crowds tonight," Jason Mathis of the Downtown Alliance said Friday.

Although some businesses and retailers, such as the City Creek Center shopping center and EnergySolutions Arena, have had their Christmas lights on for a week, for many Utahns the lighting of Temple Square marked the official start of the holiday season.

"(It's a) family tradition. We love to come down and see the lights. It just gets the feeling of Christmas going in our family," said Eric Hansen, who has attended the lighting at Temple Square for the past several years.

"It helps us remember why we celebrate Christmas," added Maura Hansen.

For others such as Jessica Martini and her family, it was their first time attending the annual event.

"We're making this a new family tradition," she said. "I think it puts us in the right spirit of Christmas."

Martini, along with her husband and two daughters, arrived in the downtown area about noon to first do some shopping before making sure they had a good seat in the middle of Temple Square by 5 p.m. to wait for the lights to be turned on.


It's very exciting to see the excitement that's in the air and the smiles on people's faces. Cheers people up. I think it's exciting just to bring the family down here. (It) just starts off the spirit of Christmas.

–Shawn Martini


For the Martinis, it's the "energy and excitement" of the downtown area — between the shopping, the windows at Macy's with the annual candy sculptures, and the lights at Temple Square — they enjoy most.

"It's very exciting to see the excitement that's in the air and the smiles on people's faces. Cheers people up," Shawn Martini said. "I think it's exciting just to bring the family down here. (It) just starts off the spirit of Christmas."

It's that synergy of retailers and people headed downtown that Mathis hopes will lure people to Utah's capital city this holiday season.

"There are lots of places throughout the state to have a really cool holiday experience, whether it's old Deseret Village or Gardner Village. Lots of communities do their own things," he said. "But there's nothing quite like downtown during the holidays where you have this very urban, holiday-esque traditional and historical experience.

"Whether your persuasion leads to the religious and you want to have a more religious holiday at Temple Square, or a more commercial holiday at The Gateway or City Creek Center, downtown really lends itself to the magical experience. One of the nice things about it is you are just around a lot of people who are sharing in that experience, and that kind of shared sense of communion in an urban space is what makes downtown really cool," Mathis said.

Pedestrians check out the lights on the trees at Temple Square on Friday, Nov. 28, 2014, in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Hugh Carey, Deseret News)
Pedestrians check out the lights on the trees at Temple Square on Friday, Nov. 28, 2014, in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Hugh Carey, Deseret News)

"There's tons of stuff going on downtown from 'The Nutcracker' to ice skating at Gallivan to concerts almost every night at Temple Square," he said. "Crowds downtown certainly build as we get closer and closer to Christmas. There certainly is exponential growth as it gets closer."

The Downtown Alliance is once again offering its Jingle Bus service, a trolley decorated with lights that transports people from The Gateway to Temple Square and City Creek Center for free.

Sometimes the best plan for families is to visit downtown with no plan at all, Mathis said.

"And just have kind of a magical experience going from the Macy's candy windows to the lights at Temple Square to the lights at the Gateway and City Creek Center. There's no end to the great things going on downtown. And that's on top of the normal downtown activity that includes Jazz games, symphony concerts, ballet performances, things like that," he said.

In addition to the special holiday events, Mathis said there are also plenty of restaurants and local bars with vibrant nightlife.

In 2013, Salt Lake City did a personal best $800 million in retail business (restaurants and shopping), he said.

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