Holly Jolly, parade bring holidays back to Black Mountain

The holiday season will descend upon Black Mountain in the first few days of December with the annual Holly Jolly event and Christmas parade.

Holly Jolly sees portions of Sutton Avenue and Cherry Street open late for a special event that features shopping from local stores and holiday treats like cocoa, cider and cookies.

Traditionally, Holly Jolly was restricted to businesses with storefronts downtown, but this year there is an effort to include more businesses and more activities, according to Judi Melton, who is helping organize the event.

“The whole idea this year is just to broaden, to make it a real community event,” Melton said. “We’re really just trying to make it broader and include anybody in the community that wants to or has a way to be able to participate to make it a true community event.”

Holly Jolly will take place Dec. 1 this year.

New this year is a Holly Jolly market at the White Horse that will allow vendors who do not have storefronts downtown to sell their goods to the public during this event.

“This will give them the opportunity to participate in Holly Jolly and have a place to kind of hopefully generate more sales for those home-based businesses,” Melton said.

Also featured at Holly Jolly this year will be a Christmas tree lighting in Town Square. Following the lighting, Mayor Michael Sobol is scheduled to read “The Night Before Christmas.”

While Melton said an exact location is still being pinned down, Swannanoa Valley native musician Ryan Perry will perform that night. Perry graduated from Own High School and has since gone on to headline his own shows while also opening for acts such as Toby Keith, Jamey Johnson and Ronnie Dunn.

Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce Interim Executive Director Tim Helms said he enjoys going to Holly Jolly each year, and this season will be no different.

“I love Holly Jolly,” Helms said. “It’s Christmas in the village. A lot of people, carols being sung, music being played. To me, it kicks off the Christmas season.”

The day after Holly Jolly, the town of Black Mountain and the Chamber of Commerce will come together to host the annual Christmas parade.

Each year, the Christmas parade and the annual Deck the Trees fundraiser have the same theme. This year, that theme is “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Parade entrants are encouraged to use this theme in decorating. Melton said “bragging rights” as well as certificates will be awarded to the top three entrants that capture the theme.

Former Black Mountain Town Council member Bill Christy will be the grand marshal of the parade this year. Christy stepped down from his seat on the council in September, citing health concerns.

Viewers of the parade can expect anywhere from 50 to 70 different entrants. Applications are accepted until Nov. 20 on the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce website.

The parade kicks off at 4 p.m. at Flat Creek and will weave throughout town onto State Street and end at Cragmont Road.

Melton said she looks forward to the kickoff of the holiday season in Black Mountain each year.

“It’s really just beautiful how the whole community comes together,” Melton said. “We feel like a small town a lot of times, and when these events happen, everybody comes out and supports the town, supports local shops and really just participates in the community events.”

More: Photos: Black Mountain Christmas Parade 2022

Karrigan Monk is the Swannanoa Valley communities reporter for Black Mountain News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kmonk@blackmountainnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Holiday festivities return to Black Mountain