Holiday joy abounds during 61st annual WRAL Tower Lighting celebration

Monday marked the 61st time WRAL-TV has decked its transmitter tower out in holiday lights and glitter.

Hosted by WRAL anchors Debra Morgan and Gerald Owens and featuring other station news personalities, dozens of people packed the station's front courtyard on Western Boulevard to participate in the annual tradition.

To be sure, it was a chilly Monday night with temperatures in the 40s but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd, which filled up on a swanky dinner before snacking on freshly prepared donuts and hot chocolate.

The 30-minute ceremony included performances from Britton Buchanan and Calvin Lockettt, both of whom were contestants on the NBC primetime show "The Voice."

More music finery came from Harmonyx, a singing group that got its start on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Families enjoyed getting their pictures made with Woolley Bull and sipping on hot chocolate leading up to the tower lighting.

It wouldn’t be a Christmas event without Santa. Kids got their pictures made with Santa and told him what was on their Christmas list.

The crowd joined the WRAL anchors and meteorologists in counting down to the tower lighting. The event ended in another song from Buchanan with the Christmas lights shining bright.