When the tradition started in 1982, Christmas Prelude featured a tree lighting, a concert, a chowder luncheon, caroling and Santa’s arrival on a lobster boat in Kennebunkport.
Nearly 30 years later, the events fill up an entire brochure, with three tree lightings and a dozen music programs.
Additional Photos
People crowd Dock Square in Kennebunkport for a tree lighting ceremony during Christmas Prelude on Friday. This weekend is the start of the town's 29th annual Christmas Prelude, which runs through next weekend. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Calliope Landgrebe, 10, of Arundel sings a Christmas carol during Christmas Prelude in Kennebunkport on Friday. She and other children from the Academy of Developing Artists of Maine sang carols before the tree lighting ceremony in Dock Square. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
It’s that spirit that has prompted HGTV to name Kennebunkport as one of the top 10 Christmas towns in America.
Former first lady Laura Bush lit the tree in Dock Square on Friday night and afterward posed for photographs with children in the crowd.
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