It’s time to shed some light on the importance of community.

There aren’t many opportunities in the modern age for a whole community to come together, but the annual Light Up Mt. Washington festival has the purpose of doing just that with local organizations coming together to host Christmas themed activities and provide entertainment.

The festival is coming up on Friday, Dec. 1 from 5:30 p.m. through 8 p.m. Traditionally, it’s been held every year at the beginning of Dec. to celebrate the decorating of the city for the holidays. A diversity of groups are involved this year in different locations across the city, and these groups have helped the festival grow in attendance and amount of activities over the years.

Bullitt East has been involved with the festival for several years thanks to the music department. Both the choir and marching band have volunteered their time in the past and plan to do so again this time around.

Carrie Gary’s Advanced Choir class will be performing a Christmas concert at 7 p.m. at the City Pavilion area. There will be a few joint songs performed with the First Baptist Church choir as well as songs on their own. The whole choir will be singing Christmas classics like “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, “Oh Holy Night” and “Little Drummer Boy”. The fifth period Vocal Technique class will be performing two separate songs titled “December Rose” and “The Nutcracker Jingle”.

Advanced Choir has been taking part in this event since 2013. Gary feels that the group helps bring an atmosphere of Christmas spirit. “Music is such an integral part of Christmas, and it’s nice to go do something other than be in the classroom with the piano,” said Gary.

The Bullitt East marching band will be marching in the Light Up Parade at 6:15 p.m. on Main Street playing a Christmas song, with the drumline playing a separate cadence. “It’s nice for the community. It’s just something we really enjoy doing and it’s just kind of like a tradition now for us to go,” said sophomore marching band member Sarah Webster. The marching band has annually been involved with the parade since 2014. Also featured in the parade will be a Santa Claus and parade floats.

High school students won’t be the only ones participating. The Mt. Washington Elementary choir will also be performing earlier in the evening at 6 p.m. The local boy scout troop and the Lion’s Club will be providing food for purchase.

The main events of the festival which are the parade and decorating of the city will take place on Main Street, but there will also be several other activities available spread out across different times and locations. The First Baptist Church parking lot and Community Life Center will host a large portion of the activities during the entire festival, which will include crafts, candy cane making, carriage rides, a live nativity, snack vending, Santa pictures and a train ride. The city pavilion will mainly be the site of choir performances, but will also consist of giveaway signups and face painting.

All of these activities are possible because of the volunteers and organizations in the Bullitt County community that are generous with their time. “It’s just really fun to sing in front of the community, and I think it’s cool to be a part of such a community-wide event, because it’s something that everyone enjoys,” said senior choir member Joey Byrd. The time that they give helps builds unity and makes this one of the most unique local festivals of the year.