The holiday season is officially aglow in Jamaica Plain following the launch of the annual large-scale laser projection show and the inaugural South Street Illumination.
Organized by JP Centre/South Main Streets, the festivities kicked off on Thursday, Dec. 4, with a community debut party. The opening night celebration featured a premiere of the projection show, hot cocoa served by the E-13 Boston Police Department, and a lively procession to the South Street Mall led by the band JP Honk.
For those who missed the kickoff, the displays are now running nightly through January 3, 2026. The centerpiece of the event is the light show projected several stories high onto the steeple of the First Baptist Church, located at 633 Centre Street. Following the projection, the festive atmosphere continues down the street with the new illumination display at the South Street Mall.
The projection show, titled “Twas the Night Before Solstice,” runs approximately eight minutes. It features audio in English on the hour and half-hour, and in Spanish at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour. In a nod to local creativity, the intervals between shows feature projections of drawings created by children in the Jamaica Plain community.
The event is made possible through the support of numerous local contributors, including Blue Frog Bakery, City Feed and Supply, Rachael Kulik at Insight Realty Group, TCB – The Cooperative Bank, 42 Degrees North Media, bb.q Chicken, Brilliant Places at Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty, Ellen and Janis Real Estate Team, Jamaica Plain Rentals and Sales & Property Management, Station8salon, Rockland Trust, Morrison’s Auto Rite Inc., First Baptist Church, On Centre, KidsArts, Boing! Toy Shop, JP Licks, and the E-13 Boston Police Department.
JP Centre/South Main Streets is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization seeking to guide the growth of Jamaica Plain’s Centre and South Streets’ business district and build a resilient local economy.