Uptown getting into the holiday spirit

WBT's "Holiday on Ice," a 5,000-square-foot outdoor ice skating rink will open for its seventh season on Wednesday at The Green Uptown (435 S. Tryon St.). Admission is $7 per person and $3 for skate rental; season passes are also available. Hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday. Extended hours begin Dec. 22. Details are available at www.wbtholidayonice.com. Last year, "Holiday on Ice" served more than 20,000 people.

The Belk Carolinas' Carrousel Parade -- a Thanksgiving Day tradition in Charlotte -- will again feature marching bands, colorful floats, rhythmic step and drill teams, clowns, stilt-walkers, mascots, horses and more when it marches down Tryon Street on Thursday. The parade will start at 10 a.m. from 10th and North Tryon streets and ends at the Levine Center for the Arts at South Tryon Street. WBTV (Channel 3) will televise the parade at 4 p.m. the same day. The parade has been the kick-off to the holiday season here since 1947 and is the fourth-largest Thanksgiving parade in the U.S., according to organizers. In 2009, more than 110,000 spectators were on hand.

Uptown Charlotte’s official Christmas tree will be lighted on Thursday, Dec. 2 during a free ceremony that also will feature holiday music, dance, strolling performers and singers, Santa Claus and more. The event will take place in Corporate Plaza at Founder's Hall. Activities start at 5:30 with a jazz trio performance; the lighting ceremony is at 6; a Nutcracker performance and more music continue until 8 p.m. Dec. 2 also will mark the start of the second season of the uptown holiday market called TWELVE. Located at the Square in 101 Independence Center, patrons can browse TWELVE for holiday décor, arrangements and other products offered by local vendors. More information on these events can be found at www.findyourcenter.com.