“Journey To Bethlehem” REVIEW
Tree Lighting in Porter Ranch
97 Years on Christmas Tree Lane
“Star” Review
The feel good movie of the season is Sony’s The Star, though it’s not a front-runner at the box office it is still bring a few faithful viewers to the theaters in time for the holiday season and has thus far brought in just over 28 million domestically at the box office.
Sony’s The Star is an animated tale about the first Christmas through the eyes of the animals that witnessed the miraculous occasion. The feature stars,Steven Yeun as Bo, the little donkey with big dreams of carrying a king one day. He escapes the confounds of a mill and finds Mary (Gina Rodriguez) who takes him in expectantly, though her husband Joseph (Zachary Levi) only sees him as trouble. Throughout the tale, the audience sees glimpses of the Biblical account with funny humor from the animals as they try to understand what is happening.
All in all, it’s a tale that will have kids watching it over and over as the animals are always a hit for the young ones, while the parents can also be entertained with beautiful music and a touching storyline from Nazareth all the way to Bethlehem.
Sony’s The Star came out in theaters November 17 2017 and is the perfect movie for the holiday season as it is still playing in a theater near you.
Christmas at Stanton
“Snowflakes” In Tarzana
The Snowflake festival was a way of bringing out the community of Tarzana 
to the Cultural Center for a Sunday afternoon of fun and games for the children while parents could do some holiday shopping in the park. The festival lasted from 10-4 and provided, arts and crafts, face painting and even snow in California.
Capenteria Trolley Lights
On Saturday Dec. 3, 2016, the city of Santa Barbara trolley service loaned out two of their trolleys to a local elementary school in Carpenteria where residents could board the trolley and go on a 45 minute tour of house decorated for the holiday season.
The Santa Barbara Trolley runs from Dec 9-23 and for more information visit the official website.
S0me of the views that can be seen from the trolley are below.
Holiday Cheer in Solvang, California
This year’s Julefest on December 2, 2016. It’s theme, “Celebrating Together”, was co-hosted by Tracy Farhang, executive director of the Solvang Conference and Visitors Bureau and Alan Satchwell, worship leader at the Santa Inez Valley Presbyterian Church. They welcomed hundreds of visitors and residents to the iconic Hans Christian Anderson Park for a night of hot chocolate, pictures with Santa and performances by local musicians and dancers who entertained as they waited for the tree to be lit in the center of the park.
The Grand marshals for this year’s festivities were the Neilson Family, a familiar whose heritage goes back 105 years as being one of the founding settlers in the Danish Village.
Music Performance included ballet and tap dancing courtesy of the Fossmall dancers, musical performances by the Santa Ines Valley Jazz Band as well as the Valley Wind Ensemble and an extra special performance by World renown Violinist Maurice Skahill and resident pianist, Leta Wright. Watch the video for a sample of the performances below.
And the fun didn’t stop because Santa’s village was open all weekend Dec 2-4 and is open select weekends up to Christmas free of charge, as well as the annual Winterfest Parade which commenced Saturday Dec 3, 2016 around the edge of the Danish Village of Solvang.
Solvang is known worldwide as the third most popular Christmas destination.
85th Annual Christmas in Hollywood
On Sunday November 27, the Christmas Season rolls into Hollywood with 
the 85th annual Hollywood Christmas Parade down Hollywood Blvd beginning at 6 p.m and brought in the season by bringing in the big guy himself, Santa Claus.
There were thousands of spectators that came out to experience the towering balloons including, characters like the Cat in the Hat, The Grinch, Garfield and much more.
Various movie cars also entertained crowds as they rolled down a red carpet in front of the Hollywood Pantages where the grand stand was set up and various celebrities from shows including ABC’s Blackish, Fresh Of The boat, as well as soap stars from the three longest running soap operas, Young and the Restless, Bold and The Beautiful and Days of our Lives cruised into Hollywood in style.
The Hollywood Christmas Parade will broadcast on national prime time tv beginning at 8 P.M on Friday Dec. 16 with a 2- hour special premiere on the CW.
The 84th Annual Christmas Parade Tradition in Hollywood
On the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, residents gather on Hollywood Blvd ever year to start the Christmas Season with the Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade.
This year, the grand marshall is the Las Vegas magician’s Penn & Teller and there was lots of crowd interactions with one of the hosts, Montel Williams as they performed Christmas themed tricks, like the one below.
Public officials and celebrities alike rode in cars down the boulevard, as giant balloons of famous characters had residents cheering for their favorites.
The rebroadcast of the 84th Annual Christmas parade will play on Dec. 11 at 8 p.m on the CW channel. Check your local cable provider for more information.