The tree lighting ceremony wrapped up a full day of activities as part of WinterFest -- an event that brought hundreds of families to Downtown Fresno.
"I thought it was pretty amazing being the first one. They had it well organized, and the activities were pretty fun," said Jennifer Lozano of Fresno.
Those activities included arts and crafts and even snow play. Snow was brought in giving children the chance to have a snowball fight -- some, for their very first time.
Kicking off the day was a parade that almost didn't happen. A downtown organization took over the parade this year after the city cut it's funding because of budget constraints. Instead, the city teamed up with private businesses and public organizations to put on "WinterFest."
"Everybody came to the table and we figured out what we could provide. And we made stops throughout downtown today. So the public can explore downtown and it doesn't burn any of us with the full cost of putting together an event like this," said Heather Heinks with the City of Fresno.
One of those stops included the Legion of Valor, where the Fresno Veterans Museum hosted "Christmas at the Vet." Hundreds of people stopped by to take a look at military history and the giant Christmas trees on display. It was the most visitors the Fresno Veterans Museum has ever had in a single day.
