The Orlando holiday tradition of raising of the Jack Kazanzas Star 50 feet over Orange Avenue took place in downtown Orlando November 24. It's located at the corner of Orange Avenue and Central Boulevard.
The Star has come to symbolize the start of the holiday season in Downtown Orlando.
The more than 50 year tradition of raising the 600-pound golden star started in the 1950s when two competing department stores, Ivey’s on the east and Dickson & Ives on the west of Orange Avenue, joined together in 1955 to hang the Christmas star between the two.
In 1984, after the department stores had closed, Jack Kazanzas, a lifelong resident of Orlando, led a campaign to raise funds to replace the original Christmas Star that had fallen into disrepair. In 2010, the City rewired the star which is now made up of more than 4,000 LED lights.
The photos below are from our 2012 story about the star.
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