Written by James Carlos (Features Writer)
The year 2020 has been one of the strangest and most uncertain years in recent history with a global pandemic plaguing the United States and with the holidays right around the corner, many wonder what Christmas is going to look like this year. The state of California recently mandated a second lockdown limiting social gatherings and setting a 10:00 PM curfew for those not in the same household. This can pose a real problem during the holiday season due to the fact that most holiday family gatherings contain people from multiple households, even if they are family the state’s restrictions could prevent people from seeing their family for the holidays.
Furthermore, with the Coronavirus cases projected to double during the holiday season many events such as the Thanksgiving parade in New York City have been downsized and modified to comply with restrictions by not allowing high school bands to attend and shrinking the amount of balloon handler staff from 2,000 to about 130. If this has anything to say about Christmas events and parades this year, we could expect massive downsizing or full-on cancelation for Christmas events this year. This is unfortunate news for many people right now as downright canceling annual traditions that have been around for many years can really ruin people’s Christmas spirit and make this year just overall worse.
As unfortunate as this news is it is all in the interest of public health and safety, but there are some events and traditions that are safe even during this global pandemic. However, one event this year that is still going to happen is the Fantasy of Lights drive-thru in Vasona Park, Los Gatos. This amazing Christmas light show has been going on strong for 22 years now and the pandemic is not going to ruin that streak. Each year Vasona Park puts up a rather impressive show of lights in the wake of the Christmas spirit and one of the most fortunate aspects of this event is that since its conception it has always been a drive thru event meaning that it applies with Covid-19 guidelines. How it would work is you pay the 20 dollar admission then you drive through the stunning light show they prepared. This year has been very rough for a lot of people but that does not mean you can’t enjoy the Christmas season, just stay optimistic and enjoy the holidays from home!
The Claw 