Over 1,000 Flock To The Village Hall For Tree Lighting Ceremony

ORLAND PARK, IL — More than 1,000 people took to the Orland Park Village Hall on Sunday evening to celebrate the start of the holiday season at the annual Holiday Festival and Tree Lighting Ceremony.

The festival included a variety of entertainment and activities, including music, reindeer, local vendors, speeches and of course, Santa. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, new restrictions were put in place to limit the amount of contact participants had with each other.

Mayor of Orland Park, Keith Pekau said there was no hesitation to plan the annual event amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"Christmas comes every year. We said we are going to host the event but the question was 'How?' and 'How are we going to do it safely,'" Pekau told Patch. "We see another great turnout, just like the past years, and our staff did a wonderful job at making sure this was all done safely."

See Pekau's speech to residents below at the 20-minute mark:

Ray Piattoni, director of Recreation and Parks in the village said much planning went into the event, to ensure safety.

"Everything that we did kept in mind the condition of the pandemic. For example, the tree lighting area was fenced off so that we can set a capacity limit in each section," Piattoni said. "We had everything spread and spaced out so everyone can distance the best they can."

Piattoni said the festival typically draws over 1,000 people, and that the crowd size this year is no different.

"We've been through quite a few events this year, and we learn from each one. We took what we learned and plugged it into this event as well," Piattoni said. "We normally have vendors inside but this year the only indoor component is the Santa meet and greet. We had to do it all outside to keep everyone at a safe distance, and fortunately for us the weather cooperated."

Piattoni said that to ensure there wouldn't be any long lines this year, the village had residents sign up at the Rec tent to get a Santa Fast Pass. Participants were assigned a time to come back for a socially distant visit with Santa and limited passes were available.

Masks were not required when walking through the outdoor portion of the festival, but were required while entering the Civic Center.