Hundreds turned out for the debut of the 2009 Zilker Tree Holiday Festival. The celebration went on with a different name, at a different location and on a much smaller scale. But visitors didn't seem to mind.
“I give the City an A for putting this on,” said Julie Beyt.
The Zilker Tree Holiday Festival replaced the annual Trail of Lights. Tough times forced the City of Austin to drastically change the annual holiday tradition enjoyed by many since 1965.
“It's much smaller than it was last year,” said Antonio Moawad. “I hope we can still keep the tradition up.”
The light displays are fewer, and the path to enjoy them shortened from one mile to half a mile. The festival moved from the Great Lawn across the street to the Zilker Tree.
“I think it's nice to have it on this side of the park,” said Beyt. “It’s kind of neat the way they've used the landscape a lot more creatively.”
There are now holiday concerts and nightly entertainment all free for visitors to enjoy.
“I have to tell you at first we were prepared to be disappointed,” said Andy Coulson. “I think it's kind of cool that it winds down in here and they've got some different things going.”
