After a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa Claus is officially coming back to town. Christmas in Clinton returns to downtown Clinton on Sunday, Dec. 5.

Christmas in Clinton has been a staple of Clinton’s holiday season for almost two decades. Organized by the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, the event sees Clinton’s downtown transformed into a winter wonderland.

Chamber Executive Director Paul Orsini said that the chamber finally has the details almost entirely ironed out. The event will run from 1 to 6 p.m. with attractions both outside along Main Street from the Pierson School to the chamber’s headquarters, and inside the Town Hall. (Town Hall events requires masks.)

Orsini confirmed to the Harbor News in late October that Christmas in Clinton would be back in 2021, but at that time the details were still up in the air. Now, though there is still some chance of last-minute additions, Orsini said the day has been planned.

“We did have to scale back a little this year,” he noted.

Returning events this year are the Christmas fair, craft fair, cookie sale, the annual wreath and tree sale, civic-themed booths, tours of the historic houses, food trucks, a tree lighting with Christmas carols, and of course, an appearance by Santa in the Rose Room in Town Hall from 4:45 to 6 p.m.

“Each store will have something a little different outside,” said Orsini.

Sadly, the annual soup contest will not be returning this year.

“I know it’s probably everyone’s favorite, but the space they were going to be in was going to be very crowded and [the competitors] weren’t comfortable with that and we didn’t think some other people would be comfortable, either, so we decided to scale back this year,” said Orsini.

Initially in 2020, town leaders were optimistic that the event would still be a go but as cases steadily climbed that became less feasible. By early November, Clinton’s COVID level had reached the threshold where leaders felt it was more prudent to cancel the event.

In years past, the day has seen a large crowd drawn to Clinton’s downtown and Orsini said he’s anticipating seeing lots of happy faces.

“We’re expecting a big crowd because we didn’t have it last year and hopefully the weather cooperates. And that doesn’t just mean sun. Two years ago, we actually had snow right when the event started and it was amazing and added to the day,” Orsini said.