Downtown Oregon City Holiday Tree Lighting

Downtown Oregon City's Holiday Tree Lighting is organized by the Downtown Oregon City Association, a nonprofit and accredited Main Street America program that works year-round through events, placemaking and business support to keep the historic downtown vibrant and welcoming. Past lightings in Liberty Plaza on Main Street have drawn around 1,500 people downtown, with a holiday sing-along led by the Oregon City High School Choir, a visit from Santa and a hometown celebration built with downtown businesses to help raise funds for local nonprofits.

Our take: Make a day of it with Oregon City's historic sites, which in recent years have opened free on the first Saturday of December for Heritage Holidays.