A free concert consisting of popular artists will be a new addition to this year’s Christmas tree lighting event for the first time in the event’s 29-year history. Alumni Relations and Associated Students are partnering to put on this year’s tree lighting and concert event. The concert, part of the “A Christmas Together” tour, will take place directly after the tree lighting, and will feature a number of artists including Evan Wickham, Jadon Lavik and the PawnShop kings.

A new tradition

Although this is the first year that a concert has been a part of the annual Christmas tree lighting, it could potentially become a new part of the tradition, depending on how well the event goes, said Patty Folgar, alumni and parent events coordinator.

“This year is definitely the tester year,” said Camryn Hudson, AS music and arts coordinator.

The Christmas tree lighting has been a Biola tradition for almost 30 years and continues to hold a prominent place in the Biola community. The tree lighting is an important event because it attracts the entire Biola community including the families of students, faculty and staff and many alumni, Olgar said.

“That’s what this concert is about. It’s a ‘Christmas together,’ it’s about family; it’s about being together,” Hudson said.

The tree lighting is among the favorite Biola traditions, Folgar said. The concert will continue the festivity of the evening and will enhance the tree lighting, Folgar said.

Concert seeks to please

The lineup of artists performing at the concert caters to the Biola audience, Hudson said.

“When I was approached by the tour, I immediately thought that this is something that Biola would love,” Hudson said.

The “A Christmas Together” tour approached Hudson earlier this semester about the opportunity to make Biola a stop in the tour in effort to schedule the entire month of December, Hudson said.

Due to scheduling difficulties, the only way that the concert could be booked was to partner with the annual Christmas tree lighting, Hudson said. The cost of the talent for the concert is $7,000, Hudson said. The AS senate approved this amount from the AS budget at the beginning of November.

Labor of decoration

Ushering in the Christmas season at Biola does not come without a lot of man hours on behalf of Biola’s facility staff. Decorating the Christmas tree for the lighting event each year requires an extensive amount of labor, although it does not appear that this year’s concert addition will add any more labor hours for facility services, said Joe Grossman, facility services event manager.

Last year’s Christmas tree lighting totalled 256 hours of labor to reach the expected level of festiveness, Grossman said. Biola’s beloved Christmas tree is decorated with 200 ornaments, and encircled in 1,200 to 1,400 lights.