Stroll Into The Holidays In Niantic

Niantic Main Street, Niantic’s downtown revitalization organization, is ready to spread holiday cheer throughout the village of Niantic once again with their 10th Annual Holiday Stroll. The family-friendly, favorite event will be held on Saturday, November 30, from 3 to 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

This year over 30 Niantic and East Lyme businesses will be participating in the Holiday Stroll. Organizers expect approximately 1,500 people will come downtown for an evening of holiday fun. Planned entertainment and activities include horse-drawn carriage rides around the village, a donut eating contest by Giuliano's Donut & Bake Shop, carols by the Connecticut Yuletide Carolers, s’mores stations, complimentary hot cider and cocoa, kids games on the Liberty Green, a snowflake drop and the arrival of Santa on a shiny red fire truck at the town green at approximately 5:20 p.m., immediately after the annual tree lighting ceremony.  

Holiday Stroll Schedule:
3-7 p.m. Complimentary horse-drawn carriage rides
3-7 p.m. Store and restaurant specials
3-7 p.m. Heritage Properties’ Toys for Tots Drive on Liberty Green
3-7 p.m. Children’s arts & crafts at the Police Department with East Lyme Youth Services
3-4:30 p.m. S’more stations
3-4:30 p.m. Letter writing to Santa at the Children's Museum of SE CT
3-5 p.m. April’s Balloon Creations at Weichert Realtors
3-5 p.m. Kids games on the Liberty Green with DJ WJR
4-4:30 p.m. Giuliano's Donut & Bake Shop’s Donut Eating Contest
4-5:30 p.m. Meet ‘n’ Greet with Eastern Connecticut’s Ballet’s Nutcracker and Clara from “The Nutcracker” at Sage & Sandalwood
4-7 p.m. The Connecticut Yuletide Carolers stroll Main Street
5:10 p.m. Countdown to the tree lighting 
5:15 p.m. Snowflake Drop
5:20 p.m. Arrival of Santa
5:30 p.m. Visits with Santa and letter delivery
7:30-9 p.m. Jazz vocalist April Marie and Pianist Peter Emanuel at Main Street Grille 

Children can bring their yearly letters and wish lists to Santa for bringing back to the North Pole, or they can stop in to the Children's Museum to craft their letter. Visits with Santa are free; parents are encouraged to bring a camera to capture the moment.

Niantic Main Street's 10th Annual Holiday Stroll is sponsored by the Town of East Lyme, Grace, Liberty Bank, Heavy Equipment Services Company, Niantic Plumbing, Guy’s Oil Service, Bob’s Discount Furniture, Niantic Morton House, Heritage Properties, Dime Bank, Neilan Funeral Home, Levine Distributing & the Niantic & Flanders merchants and restaurants.

For more information and a list of participating shops and restaurants, visit www.nianticmainstreet.org or call 860-739-2550.

About Niantic Main Street:
The Niantic Main Street (NMS) organization is a 501c(3) not-for-profit organization committed to promoting and implementing downtown revitalization efforts in the villages of Niantic and Flanders, Conn. The goal of the all-volunteer group, comprised of a Board of Directors and various volunteers from within the community of East Lyme and the region, is to make Niantic a wonderful place to live, work and play for residents and visitors.