BANGOR – Downtown was ablaze with lights Saturday, as the city hosted its annual Festival of Lights tree lighting at West Market Square and the parade.

According to Steven Robbins, one of the event’s organizers, Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department personnel helped put up 36,000 glistening white lights in the heart of the city’s busy downtown shopping district – 1,200 on the community Christmas tree alone.

And those weren’t the only lights around that day. Storefronts up and down Main Street and the parade’s floats and participants were decorated with strands of Christmas lights.

Robbins, whose wool coat, long scarf and top hat were reminiscent of a Dickens character, presided over the tree lighting.

“I do it with holiday magic,” Robbins said, adding that the tree would not light without the wishes of children who believe in Santa and who gather at its base each year.

Though exact crowd counts were not available, this year’s parade was expected to draw at least 10,000 spectators.

Thousands of people lined both sides of the parade route, smiling, waving and calling out as they watched the procession of brightly lighted floats and performers.

They cheered and applauded as marching bands strutted their stuff along the parade route, which began on Railroad Street on the city’s waterfront and ended near Exchange Street.

Attending the annual holiday festivities has become a tradition for area families, drawing people not only from Greater Bangor, but also from as far away as Madawaska.

Among those who turned out Saturday was Tyler Williams, 9, who came to the festival with his grandmother, Lisa Hopkins of Old Town, and his little sister, Mackenzie, 3.

“I just like all the music and all the lights,” the boy said.

Hopkins said the parade has become a family tradition.

“I used to take my kids, but they’re all grown up now,” she said. “Now I come with my grandchildren.”

The festival also has become one of the ways that Daryl and Darcy Boyington of Hampden, their 4-year-old son, Jed, and pet dog Tarzan mark the start of the holiday season.

“We try to come to all of the parades, but right now I think we want to see Santa,” Daryl Boyington said.

The parade, organized by the Bangor Noontime Rotary Club, featured an array of bands, volunteer groups, schools and businesses, to name a few. The more than 40 units that took part included lively floats, twirling majorettes, carolers, pageant queens and angels.

Though the clear weather was a vast improvement from last year, when the festival coincided with the season’s first snowstorm, the chilly weather sent many to Dunkin’ Donuts, where all but four varieties of the Main Street shop’s doughnuts sold out.

This year’s festivities took on added significance for Nina Gallant, who grew up on Parkway North in nearby Brewer. She recently moved back to the area after living in Litchfield for 30 years.

“There were parades but they were nothing like this,” Gallant said, as she took in the lights and music. “So this is exciting for me.”

As she waited for the parade to go by, Gallant shared some of her memories of shopping in downtown Bangor as a child, when stores such as Freese’s and W.T. Grant attracted families from throughout the region.

Like many who turned out, Gallant was part of a multigenerational group that included her daughter, Tammy Connor of Winthrop and grandchildren, Lakin and Shelbie.