Lights Out: Why Hilton Head’s Shelter Cove Towne Centre canceled its holiday tradition
Hilton Head Island will be a little dimmer over the holidays in 2020.
Shelter Cove Towne Centre will not feature its annual Christmas light display this winter, according to the shopping mall.
“We have decided to postpone the holiday lights hosted by (Shelter Cove) for 2020 due to COVID,” Shelter Cove spokesperson Roni Allbritton told The Island Packet. “We did not feel it was professionally responsible to encourage large gatherings at this time. We do hope people will continue to shop our stores and restaurants.”
The annual Christmas light display typically features thousands of multicolored lights that adorn shop and restaurant windows and wind around the area’s dozens of Palmetto Trees.
In a year when so many traditions and expectations have been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, the shopping center’s darker-than-normal appearance has not gone unnoticed.
Commentators on the internet have encouraged others to contact Allbritton and express their displeasure with the cancellation.
Michelle Meissen, who lives on the island, said she disagrees with Shelter Cove’s decision. She said a Christmas lights display doesn’t attract large crowds at the shopping center at the same time.
“It’s not an event. They’re lights,” Michelle said. “They’re trying to use COVID as an excuse in order to prolong it for next year.”
Allbritton said individual shops are still holding holiday events. Among them:
- Dec. 8: The Women’s Association of Hilton Head’s “Shop Local and Dine About,” from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
- Dec. 11 through Dec. 13: Towne Centre will hold a Holiday Sidewalk Sale
- Dec. 13: Light up the Lowcountry Public Menorah lighting at 5 p.m.
- Dec. 28: Red Cross Blood Drive from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
If you’re hankering for a Christmas light display, you can still catch some holiday cheer at Hilton Head Fire Station #3 on the north end. Located at 534 William Hilton Parkway, the fire station has already decorated for the holiday season.
Cars can circle the building to see the entire display.
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 4:36 PM.
