Salve Regina will hold annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Luminaria event

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and what better way to celebrate than Salve Regina’s third annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Luminaria event? On Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 5 p.m., Salve Regina will be offering a celebration that will include Christmas music, caroling, a visit from Santa Claus and refreshments. This event is open to the Salve Regina community, as well as the general public.

For the third year, Salve Regina will also welcome the holiday season with a display of paper lanterns. The lanterns started in December 2020 as a way to bring the Salve Regina community together safely during the pandemic with an outdoor event, and the luminaria event captured the hearts of many and became a new campus tradition.

This year’s event will feature 1,000 paper lanterns, many of which will shine in tribute for a Salve Regina community member’s loved one. For a small donation, participants can submit the names of loved ones to honor or remember them, and each lantern will be inscribed with a tribute. Donations for the luminaria must be submitted by Noon on Dec. 2.

Luminary decorated the grounds of the Salve Regina in 2020. 

Students from Sigma Phi Sigma are providing volunteer hours to prepare the lanterns and lay out the display on Dec. 6. The luminaria will be lit prior to the event’s official start, and they will be located in the vicinity of McAuley Hall. The lanterns will remain lit for the remainder of the evening, and visitors are welcome to view the lanterns any time that evening. Street parking is available nearby.

Christmas refreshments will be served during the entire event. If there is inclement weather, the luminaria will be inside Our Lady of Mercy Chapel, and the Christmas Tree lighting still take place with covered viewing available at McAuley Hall or the O’Hare Academic Building.

The Salve Regina choral group Pitches with Attitude performed at the Christmas tree lighting in 2020.