About the Holiday Sing-Along & Stroll

Austin’s favorite way to kick off the holiday season began in the fall of 1993, when the Downtown Austin Alliance’s (DAA) first holiday season arrived with little time to prepare and decorations that had weathered severe wind damage. In 1994, the DAA held its first major public program: a tree lighting featuring a 40-foot balsam fir decorated by students from six elementary schools. The weather had other plans. Thunderstorms and lightning rolled in that Friday, December 2, and the choir and the Mayor were sent away. But when the rain turned back to fog at 6 PM, board chair David Bodeman said, “Let’s do it!” and the tree was lit for a crowd of 100 people. It was a small, spontaneous, very Austin event, and ornaments kept appearing on the tree for days afterward.

That same spirit had been growing at KUT, where longtime host John Aielli started an annual holiday sing-along in the 1980s. In 2003, the tree lighting and the sing-along came together, and Aielli led thousands of Austinites in songs of the season from the Capitol’s south steps. Over the years, the celebration grew into the Holiday Sing-Along & Stroll, with local artisans, farmers, restaurants and Austin musicians and performers filling the streets. Today, the Downtown Austin Alliance presents the event with KUT and KUTX, and it marks the start of the holiday season in downtown Austin. Aielli passed away in 2022, and each year the event honors his legacy.

More than three decades later, we’re still singing and strolling along. Come join in this year's fun on December 5th!