For Immediate Release: 11/18/2016 11:35 am
Worcester, MA (November 18, 2016) - City Manager Edward M. Augustus, Jr. announced today that the Worcester Common Oval will open for another family-friendly season of ice skating on Friday, December 2, 2016, starting with the annual Festival of Lights.
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
The City's annual Festival of Lights will take place on Friday, December 2nd from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM on the Worcester Common, behind City Hall, 455 Main St. Worcester. This year's event will be headlined by Sam James, whose debut EP "It Never Happens" reached #5 on the US Singer/Songwriter Chart on iTunes. Sam is a Worcester native who was featured on Season 3 of NBC's The Voice.
The event will also feature a visit from Santa Claus, a performance by the cast of the Hanover Theatre's A Christmas Carol, children's choral performances, demonstrations by the Northstar figure skaters, a holiday tree lighting, concessions, free hot cocoa, on-site performers, horse-drawn wagon rides, public ice skating and Worcester's first food truck rodeo. The celebration will open with holiday performances by the Combined Choruses of Goddard and Quinsigamond Schools, the Quadrivium Ensemble from Burncoat High School and the Doherty Madrigal.
The holiday tree lighting is scheduled to take place at 6:45 PM and then children will have an opportunity to visit Santa on the plaza. The Oval will open for skating at 5:30 PM. To celebrate the start of the public ice skating season, admission will be free from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Skate rentals are $3.
The City of Worcester thanks all of the Worcester Common Oval partners: title sponsor the Worcester Railers, Hanover Insurance, Discover Central Massachusetts, MCPHS, UNUM, Bay State Savings Bank, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, College of the Holy Cross, the Hanover Theatre and Commerce Bank.
PUBLIC SKATING ON THE WORCESTER COMMON OVAL
The City's 12,000-square-foot rink, which opened in 2012, is 4,000 square feet larger than the rink at New York City's Rockefeller Center. The Oval has piped-in music, skate rentals, concessions, holiday lights and more, making it a fun and affordable family-friendly activity. The rink is professionally managed by SMG, the DCU Center's talented management team.
Regular hours of operation will be Fridays 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Saturdays and Sundays 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The season will start December 2nd and last through February.
The Oval will also be open for daytime skating during school vacation weeks and on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. During the weeks of December 26th and February 20th, the Oval will be open from 12:00 PM until 5:00 PM, Monday through Thursday, and 12:00 PM until 8:00 PM on Friday, February 26th. The Oval will be closed Christmas Day.
The rink will be open as the weather allows. Cancelations will be posted on http://www.worcestercommonoval.com.
A limited number of free parking spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis in the garage under City Hall. Other parking is available on-street and at the new Worcester Common Garage at Front and Mercantile Streets.
Admission for open skate is $5 (free for kids 6 and younger), and $3 for skate rentals with a $25 refundable deposit per skate rental. This year, admission will be buy-one-get-one-free for students of area colleges every Friday evening.
The Oval will also be available for private group rentals. Please call (508) 929-0163 for information.
For additional information about the Festival of Lights and the Oval, please visit: http://www.worcestercommonoval.com. Visitors are also encouraged to share their Oval experiences on social media, and tag photos with #wooval.
fol-schedule-of-events.pdf
