Children were up on their fathers' shoulders, video recorders were out and cameras flashed as the Redwood Middle School Honor Chorus, all wearing Santa hats, lined up under the Memorial Arch to sing "Deck the Halls," "Jingle Bells" and even "Hava Nagila."

Saratoga resident John Simmons was standing in the crowd. This was the second time he had attended Saratoga's tree lighting and open house. "I think it's a great event that brings the community together," he said.

Chris Van Hoy and the Curves Band took over and sang and played guitars under the arch. Then the Marshall Lane Elementary School Mustang Choral, led by Wendy Hunter, sang "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," among other Christmas classics.

At 6 p.m., Mayor Kathleen King started the countdown. Then the lights on the live holiday tree lit up the night to cheers from the crowd. The lighting of the tree signaled the opening of the Holiday Open House in the Village.

Across Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, the firefighters at the Saratoga Fire Station gave out hot cocoa and cookies. A block down from the fire station, the Saratoga Federated Church set up a live nativity scene, with a live donkey.

Debi Cormier, of Los Gatos, stood near the nativity scene as she listened to her daughter sing in the Coram Deo Chorus. She said she hadn't known of the annual Saratoga event until she learned her daughter would be singing in it. "Everyone's happy and smiling," she said. "It's a good way to spend the beginning of Christmas."

Big Basin Way was crowded with people, music and free food offered by restaurants such as Lupretta's Deli, which was passing out cups of raviolis. Quite a few people in the crowd were carrying cups of coffee or eggnog from Starbucks. Santa Claus was pasting stickers on children and their parents in front of the newly-opened Starbucks at the Corinthian Corners shopping center. The coffee shop offered free coffee as it celebrated its recent opening on Nov. 23.

A group from the Saratoga Federated Church, calling itself The Ringers, stood in front of Wells Fargo Bank ringing bells to the tunes of Christmas carols. Down the street, the Redwood Middle School Jazz Band belted out more holiday tunes. Band director Naoki Taniguchi said the students in the Jazz Band had come out to play even though they were out of school for the long holiday weekend. "We've had a nice crowd," he said. "The kids are thrilled to play. More than anything, I'm glad it's not raining."

Two English shire horses were pulling a carriage up and down Big Basin Way. Andy Egger, from Switzerland, tended to the huge draft horses as the carriage picked up the passengers lined up in front of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce. Egger works for Draft Horses For Hire, a company based in Santa Cruz. "Every year, it's very popular," he said of the carriage rides. "It's always nice up here. In Santa Cruz, people yell at you to free the horses."

City Manager Dave Anderson said that the tree lighting ceremony nearly didn't come off this year. The city's economic development coordinator ran the event in the past, but that position had been cut. City Clerk Cathleen Boyer volunteered to run the event this year and saved the day, Anderson explained. "It's been great that we've had a collaboration with the city, the Chamber and with the Village merchants to put this on," he said.

"It was a collaborative effort," Boyer said. For Boyer, the night was a busy one of handing out candy canes and free popcorn while making sure everything was going smoothly. "The amount of people that showed up at Blaney Plaza was amazing," she said. "This event was a nice way to welcome in the holiday season. Next year we want to make it bigger and better."