For two magical hours on Thursday, Volunteer Park was transformed into a holiday wonderland with over 600 candle-lit luminarias lining the pathways for Volunteer Park Trust’s much-anticipated annual event: Holiday in the Park.

Over 1,200 people were undaunted by the cold weather and short gusts of rain as Volunteer Park Trust kept revelers warm dispensing 30 gallons of free cocoa donated by Tully’s Coffee and sweetened the evening with one thousand free cookies provided by Whole Foods. Seattle Asian Art Museum’s facade featured special dramatic green and red lighting, making an impressive holiday backdrop for the stage presentation of four different singing groups.

This year the choral line up featured Seatown Sound, Sing Noel, Columbia City Community Chorus, and the 2015 Figgy Pudding caroling competition award winners The Beaconettes. Old favorites were mixed with inventive original holiday songs, including Seatown Sounds’ “All I Want for Christmas is — Presents!” Both the museum and the Volunteer Park Conservatory extended their hours for the event, providing families with warm welcomes.

New this year was a Make a Wish Boats tent. Kids and parents delighted in adding their designs and wishes to small paper boats each carrying a lit candle. Boats were floated in a washtub or in the convenient nearby puddles.

The Holiday in the Park event was created in 2012 by Volunteer Park Trust to help activate this Olmsted-designed public space and provide a free community celebration for friends and neighbors. The Trust’s mission is to restore, protect and preserve this city and national landmark for today and for generations to come. They are the group that is also organizing the upgrades to the Volunteer Park amphitheater. More about Volunteer Park Trust can be found at their website: volunteerparktrust.org.

More photos of the event and the Trust’s hardy volunteers who braved afternoon storm bursts to set up the event can be seen on Flickr at: http://bit.ly/2015VPT-HolidayPics