Experience Downtown for the Holidays

The holiday season is a magical time of year when family, friends and community come together to celebrate the season, and there is no better place to be than Downtown Syracuse. The City of Syracuse hosted the annual Tree Lighting on November 28th in Clinton Square and Menorah Lighting; our Convention District featured holiday programs including the Nutcracker and Cirque, and there were plenty of Crunch games to attend and cheer on our local team! For more holiday events in Downtown visit our calendar.

10th Annual Window Wonderland

This year marks the celebration of the 10th Annual Window Wonderland Contest. We had over 50 ground-floor businesses participate in this year's Contest. Windows throughout Downtown were decorated with festive, seasonal displays for community members walked around and voted for their favorite design.

This year's winners:

1st Place: Central Library

2nd Place: Soup R Salads

3rd Place: M. Lemp Jewelers

Holiday in Hanover

On December 6th, 2025, we celebrated a festive day filled with family friendly activities, presented by Community Bank in partnership with the Downtown Committee of Syracuse. Visitors warmed up with a cup of hot cocoa while strolling and enjoying the wonderful shops and restaurants in Hanover Square. ***Please note this event has passed.***

Date: Saturday, December 6th, 2025

Time: 11:00am - 3:00pm

Complimentary Horse Drawn Carriage Rides (approx. 10 minutes)
Complimentary tickets to the Erie Canal Museum's Gingerbread Gallery
Complimentary tickets to Clinton Square Ice Skating
Hot Cocoa
And so much more!

*Complimentary tickets were limited*

Shop Downtown Passport

This holiday season we launched our inaugural Shop Downtown Passport. From November 28 until January 5, when you made a purchase at one of the over 30 participating businesses you receiveda sticker on your Passport.

Once you filled your passport, they were dropped off at Cake Bar Cafe on West Genessee Street or Milano Bean Cafe to be entered to win the Downtown Syracuse Gift Basket.

Student Art in Downtown Syracuse

This year we launched an exciting new project
that activated the streetscape along the 300 and 400 blocks of South Salina Street. Throughout
December, Pre-K classrooms in local schools channeled their creativity to produce
Student Art in Downtown Syracuse. As you stroll down South Salina Street, you can delight in
festive artwork contributed by over 15 classrooms, showcasing their talents to bring life to
vacant storefronts.

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Experience Downtown for the Holidays