Marblehead Santa's Arrival, Parade Tree Lighting Road Closures

MARBLEHEAD, MA — A full two days of Marblehead holiday fare — including Santa's arrival by boat at Clark's Landing, the annual tree lighting and Santa's parade — will include several road closures and parking restrictions on Friday and Saturday.

The tree lighting will take place on Friday with Santa's arrival and Santa's parade on Saturday.

Christmas Tree Lighting

On Friday, Marblehead’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting will be held at the National Grand Bank at 91 Pleasant Street, beginning at 7 p.m.

Starting at 6 p.m., the following road closures and detours will be in effect:

* Inbound traffic on Pleasant Street at the 3 Cod Tavern will be detoured right onto and down Washington Street, through the Five Corners intersection, continuing straight up Washington Street toward Abbot Hall.

* Essex Street will be closed. This includes MBTA buses, which will follow Washington Street until it gets back on the normal route by lower Pleasant Street. A vehicle barricade will be present on Essex Street near the information booth.

* MBTA buses (and regular traffic) traveling outbound on Elm Street will continue straight onto Sewall Street, left onto School Street and turn right back onto Pleasant Street outbound.

* Spring Street heading toward Pleasant Street will be closed at the traffic island to thru traffic. Access to residences and businesses should be allowed as pedestrian traffic permits.

* Outbound Pleasant Street will be detoured right onto Spring Street to Elm or Sewall Streets. DPW trucks will be blocking Pleasant Street at School Street and Pleasant Street near the Starbucks entrance.

The roads will re-open at about 8 p.m., pending foot traffic in the area. Drivers are encouraged to seek alternate routes if they are traveling in the vicinity between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., and to follow all posted detour signs

Santa's Arrival

On Saturday, Santa's "Arrival" will be held at Philip T. Clark Landing on State Street beginning at 9 a.m.

Starting at 8 a.m., the following road closures and detours will be in effect:

* Clark Landing will be closed to vehicular traffic and restricted to pedestrian traffic only. Portable vehicle barriers will be in place at the entrance and exit of the landing parking lot.

* State Street will be closed as pedestrian traffic dictates.

* No vehicular traffic will be permitted down State Street toward the harbor.

* A DPW truck will be blocking the bottom of State Street between Glover Square & Front Street to prevent vehicle access to Front Street and the landing.

* Front Street traffic coming from the Boston Yacht Club/Darling Street area will be redirected to travel Front Street to Merritt, Circle or Franklin Streets, with no traffic permitted up State Street

Roads are expected to open back up at around 12:30 p.m. Drivers are encouraged to seek alternate routes through this area during the event and should follow all posted detour signs.

Santa's Parade

On Saturday, Santa's Parade will be held beginning at 11:45 a.m., coinciding with the Santa's "Arrival" event at Clark Landing.

The following road closures and detours will be in effect for the duration of the parade:

* Clark Landing will remain closed until the parade passes, along with the Washington and State Streets road closures.

* Beginning at 10:30 a.m., the area from Front Street to the Yacht Club to State Street, and the area from Darling Street to Washington Street to Front Street will be closed to traffic to allow parade staging.

* No vehicular traffic will be permitted down State Street toward the harbor.

* A DPW truck will be blocking the bottom of State Street off between Glover Square and Front Street to prevent vehicle access to Front Street and the landing.

* Portable vehicle barriers in place at entrance and exit of the landing parking lot will remain in place until the parade steps off.

These closures will remain until the parade passes and pedestrian foot traffic clears. Residents and through traffic are encouraged to seek alternate routes through this area and to follow all posted detour signage.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)