A Slightly Wet 2016 Holiday Stroll

Last Saturday night, Congress Avenue was the place to be for Austin’s most festive. The rain probably thinned out the crowds a bit for the lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree and Holiday Stroll on Congress Avenue, but the folks who braved the weather were rewarded with carols, lights, and local eats.

KUT & KUTX’s holiday sing-along on the Capitol steps went pretty well, considering everyone was singing from under umbrellas. I still can’t believe Elizabeth McQueen powered through “The 12 Days of Christmas.”

The crowd wasn’t huge, but you could hear pretty much everything from anywhere on the Capitol grounds. In terms of silver linings, rain makes stage lights look great.

Happy Vegan Bakery and Austin Pierogi Company, among others, were on hand to keep folks warm from the inside out.

There aren’t actually very many stores on the stretch of Congress Avenue between the Capitol and 9th Street where the stroll took place, but Consuela’s window was certainly bright.

Even with a darkened tree, the view wasn’t bad.

But it got better once the lights came on.

A kid’s-eye view of this year’s Capitol Christmas Tree — it still looks good up close!

Thanks to the Downtown Austin Alliance, KUT/KUTX, the Central Texas Food Bank, and the Sustainable Food Center for hosting the event — we hope the weather works out next year!