From staff reports

DURHAM -- The holiday season gets its official downtown kick off at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 with Light Up Durham and The Lucky Strike Tower Lighting at the American Tobacco Campus.

The event includes a night of music, snow -- yes, snow -- and the lighting of nearly 200 feet of the Lucky Strike Water Tower.

The show will also feature performances by local youth entertainers, including holiday music and some traditional toe-tapping tunes.

Main stage performers will include:

n The Durham School of the Arts Concert Chorale and Advanced Middle School Chorus directed by choral director, Megan Boyd accompanied by Amy Davis.

n The Morehead Montessori Magnet Elementary Chorus directed by choral director Betsy Hughes accompanied by Tonya Kirk.

n The "Jammin Manatees" from Club Boulevard Arts Humanities Magnet School directed by choral director Tokay Allen.

This year's event will also feature a food drive, so visitors are asked to bring kid-friendly, non-perishable foods that will be used by the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle's BackPack Buddies program.

Also included will be some 500 and well-placed luminarias to "light the way" to a wonderful evening, courtesy of Girl Scout Troop 514.

The first 500 people on the lawn will receive a free light wand as a keepsake. And, as always, at the specified time, the entire crowd will help countdown to the grand finale moment when we throw the switch to Light Up Durham and the Lucky Strike Tower for the holiday season.

For more information, visit www.LightUpDurham.org.