With Thanksgiving next week, the winter is whizzing by, which has people already thinking about Christmas.

Now that Derby had its Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, that mentality is here to stay. On Thursday night, families and friends gathered at Madison Avenue Central Park to watch the tree come to life.

“There wasn’t too much of a buildup, but I thought the tree looked really beautiful,” junior Brianna Reeves said. “It made me think of how excited I am for Christmastime.”

Lighting the tree wasn’t the only festivity at the park. Christmas music filled the air from a speaker behind the tree. Nearby, there were kettlecorn samples, cookies, hot chocolate and food trucks.

In the pavilion, children waited with their parents to see Santa and Mrs. Claus as some ran around with each other to keep the boredom at bay. Families could also make Christmas crafts in the venue.

A robotic dinosaur even appeared, exciting the crowd about the future dinosaur theme park soon to be complete.

“I thought it was really cool,” junior Brendan Albright said. “It was fun to watch little kids react to ‘a real dinosaur’.”

At 6:00 p.m., the crowd counted down from ten, waiting to see the Christmas tree light up for the first time. Red and green lights made the tree glow, with a star glittering on top, and the crowd cheered.

“My favorite part has to be the happy feeling of all the people,” Reeves said. “No one was feeling down. They were just enjoying their evening with their friends and family.”

Albright added: “I thought the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony was a wonderful event to bring the people of Derby together to celebrate the upcoming holiday.”