The holiday spirit lights up Milwaukee for a festive welcome to the Christmas shopping season.

The 11th annual Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival warms up downtown with thousands of twinkle lights, beginning November 19 with the Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival Kick-Off Extravaganza. The ceremonial lighting takes place at 6 pm in Pere Marquette Park, with live music, entertainment, fireworks, free Jingle Bus rides and a visit from Santa Claus.

From November 19 – January 3, Wisconsin Avenue, Cathedral Square Park, Pere Marquette Park, and Zeidler Union Square are adorned with lights and animated displays. For $1 per person, a Jingle Bus will take visitors on a tour of downtown. The Jingle Bus operates Thursday through Sundays November 20 – Jan 3 from 6 to 9 pm from the Plankinton Arcade at The Shops of Grand Avenue, the Festival’s Warming House location at 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. Awaiting riders are served hot cocoa, coffee and cookies, and little ones receive coloring books and crayons.

At Bayshore Town Center, a premier shopping, dining, and entertainment complex in Glendale, Wis., the Christmas shopping season kicks off with Brilliant Night, Dazzling Lights. The event begins on November 13 at 6 pm, with Santa, snow fairies, music and treats and the lighting of the classic 50-foot evergreen tree in Town Square.

Enjoy the holiday lights and sights while you save some Christmas cash by using our discount gift certificate for the Baymont Inn in Glendale. This travel discount saves 50% off of the price of a one-night stay. The Baymont is just blocks from Bayshore Town Center, and minutes to downtown Milwaukee. Start your shopping and sightseeing excursion with complimentary continental breakfast and free high speed wireless internet. For Christmas shopping or anytime shopping, remember RTownShopper.com.

What are your plans for Christmas shopping or sightseeing?

***Don’t forget to enter our RtownShopper.com pizza giveaway! Contest ends Nov. 16. Enter today!***