2022 Festival of Trees
Dec 6, 2023 09:36:50 #
Hilton Head Preparatory School’s Festival of Trees is one of Hilton Head Island’s largest holiday-themed festivals, running from mid November to early December.
2022 Festival of Trees by Paul Sager, on Flickr
Over 1,000 people attend this event each year. The 2022 Festival of Trees was held at the Marriott Hilton Head Resort & Spa.
2022 Festival of Trees
The trees, a spectacular display of beautifully and creatively-themed Christmas trees in all sizes and colors, are sponsored and decorated by local organizations, businesses, and individuals. Themes range from the traditional to the whimsical to the humorous.
2022 Festival of Trees
During the 2-week+ display, attendees have the opportunity to purchase the trees, with all proceeds benefiting the Hilton Head Preparatory School’s Tuition Assistance Program for local students.
2022 Festival of Trees
Hilton Head Preparatory School (HHP) is a private school for junior kindergarten through 12th grade, located in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
2022 Festival of Trees
HHP is the only school on Hilton Head Island to be accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools.
2022 Festival of Trees
All trees and wreaths are one-of-a-kind decorations by individuals or companies.
2022 Festival of Trees
Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Low country resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina.
2022 Festival of Trees
The island is named after Captain William Hilton, who in 1663 identified a headland near the entrance to Port Royal Sound, which mapmakers named "Hilton's Headland." The island features 12 miles of beachfront on the Atlantic Ocean and is a popular vacation destination.
2022 Festival of Trees
The island has a rich history that started with seasonal occupation by Native Americans thousands of years ago and continued with European exploration and the Sea Island Cotton trade.
2022 Festival of Trees
The custom of Christmas Trees was developed in Central Europe and the Baltic states, particularly Estonia, Germany and Livonia (now Latvia), where Protestant Christians brought decorated trees into their homes.
2022 Festival of Trees
Edible items such as gingerbread, chocolate, and other sweets are also popular and are tied to or hung from the tree's branches with ribbons.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Christmas tree has been historically regarded as a custom of the Lutheran Churches and only in 1982 did the Catholic Church erect the Vatican Christmas Tree.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Christmas tree was first recorded to be used by German Lutherans in the 16th century, with records indicating that a Christmas tree was placed in the Cathedral of Strasbourg in 1539, under the leadership of the Protestant Reformer, Martin Bucer.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Vikings and Saxons worshiped trees. The story of Saint Boniface cutting down Donar's Oak illustrates the pagan practices in 8th century among the Germans. A later folk version of the story adds the detail that an evergreen tree grew in place of the felled oak, telling them about how its triangular shape reminds humanity of the Trinity and how it points to heaven.
2022 Festival of Trees
Several cities in the United States with German connections lay claim to that country's first Christmas tree: Windsor Locks, Connecticut, claims that a Hessian soldier put up a Christmas tree in 1777 during the Revolutionary War.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Peanuts TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) was influential on the pop culture surrounding the Christmas tree.
2022 Festival of Trees
Christmas ornaments are decorations (usually made of glass, metal, wood, or ceramics) that are used to decorate a Christmas tree. The first decorated trees were adorned with apples, white candy canes and pastries in the shapes of stars, hearts and flowers.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Christmas pickle is a German-American Christmas tradition. A decoration in the shape of a pickle is hidden on a Christmas tree, with the finder receiving either a reward or good fortune for the next year.
2022 Festival of Trees
All images were captured with a Canon PowerShot G9X-II, in RAW format, and processed in Adobe Lightroom v6, most using the camera's pop-up flash.
2022 Festival of Trees by Paul Sager, on Flickr
Over 1,000 people attend this event each year. The 2022 Festival of Trees was held at the Marriott Hilton Head Resort & Spa.
2022 Festival of Trees
The trees, a spectacular display of beautifully and creatively-themed Christmas trees in all sizes and colors, are sponsored and decorated by local organizations, businesses, and individuals. Themes range from the traditional to the whimsical to the humorous.
2022 Festival of Trees
During the 2-week+ display, attendees have the opportunity to purchase the trees, with all proceeds benefiting the Hilton Head Preparatory School’s Tuition Assistance Program for local students.
2022 Festival of Trees
Hilton Head Preparatory School (HHP) is a private school for junior kindergarten through 12th grade, located in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
2022 Festival of Trees
HHP is the only school on Hilton Head Island to be accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools.
2022 Festival of Trees
All trees and wreaths are one-of-a-kind decorations by individuals or companies.
2022 Festival of Trees
Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Low country resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina.
2022 Festival of Trees
The island is named after Captain William Hilton, who in 1663 identified a headland near the entrance to Port Royal Sound, which mapmakers named "Hilton's Headland." The island features 12 miles of beachfront on the Atlantic Ocean and is a popular vacation destination.
2022 Festival of Trees
The island has a rich history that started with seasonal occupation by Native Americans thousands of years ago and continued with European exploration and the Sea Island Cotton trade.
2022 Festival of Trees
The custom of Christmas Trees was developed in Central Europe and the Baltic states, particularly Estonia, Germany and Livonia (now Latvia), where Protestant Christians brought decorated trees into their homes.
2022 Festival of Trees
Edible items such as gingerbread, chocolate, and other sweets are also popular and are tied to or hung from the tree's branches with ribbons.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Christmas tree has been historically regarded as a custom of the Lutheran Churches and only in 1982 did the Catholic Church erect the Vatican Christmas Tree.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Christmas tree was first recorded to be used by German Lutherans in the 16th century, with records indicating that a Christmas tree was placed in the Cathedral of Strasbourg in 1539, under the leadership of the Protestant Reformer, Martin Bucer.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Vikings and Saxons worshiped trees. The story of Saint Boniface cutting down Donar's Oak illustrates the pagan practices in 8th century among the Germans. A later folk version of the story adds the detail that an evergreen tree grew in place of the felled oak, telling them about how its triangular shape reminds humanity of the Trinity and how it points to heaven.
2022 Festival of Trees
Several cities in the United States with German connections lay claim to that country's first Christmas tree: Windsor Locks, Connecticut, claims that a Hessian soldier put up a Christmas tree in 1777 during the Revolutionary War.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Peanuts TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) was influential on the pop culture surrounding the Christmas tree.
2022 Festival of Trees
Christmas ornaments are decorations (usually made of glass, metal, wood, or ceramics) that are used to decorate a Christmas tree. The first decorated trees were adorned with apples, white candy canes and pastries in the shapes of stars, hearts and flowers.
2022 Festival of Trees
The Christmas pickle is a German-American Christmas tradition. A decoration in the shape of a pickle is hidden on a Christmas tree, with the finder receiving either a reward or good fortune for the next year.
2022 Festival of Trees
All images were captured with a Canon PowerShot G9X-II, in RAW format, and processed in Adobe Lightroom v6, most using the camera's pop-up flash.
Dec 6, 2023 11:46:55 #
Very pretty colorful set. Close ups are nice but I sure would like to see some overall shots of the trees
Dec 6, 2023 12:15:03 #
Dec 6, 2023 12:51:25 #
Curmudgeon wrote:
Very pretty colorful set. Close ups are nice but I sure would like to see some overall shots of the trees
Thanks, Jack! Alas, the position of the trees, or maybe the time of day, didn't present a good view of a larger view of the display. Many were up against windows on a relatively bright Fall day on the outside.
Dec 6, 2023 12:51:39 #
Earnest Botello wrote:
Great and colorful series, Paul.
Thank you Earnest!
Dec 6, 2023 14:27:28 #
Dec 6, 2023 19:31:47 #
Dec 6, 2023 20:11:14 #
Thank you Jo, Don! These have been sitting around for a year or so, waiting until they have the right holiday context again. 
Dec 7, 2023 05:24:26 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
Hilton Head Preparatory School’s Festival of Trees... (show quote)
What a wonderful tour and excellent tradition. 👌
Dec 7, 2023 05:59:28 #
Thanks for capturing the event, Paul. Loved seeing the unique decorations. Thanks for sharing the history of the Christmas tree and how it came to the USA.
Dec 7, 2023 08:23:23 #
Dec 7, 2023 12:24:56 #
Dec 7, 2023 13:27:35 #
Thank you junglejim1949, Joe, John, Paul! I didn't know Christmas Tress weren't an everywhere always thing.
Dec 19, 2023 22:04:02 #
dj moore
Loc: Florida panhandle
Must be an amazing number of trees. It was difficult to guess since so many were close up, but i can understand lighting. I sure hope they raise at least their goal each year.
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