When the outdoor lights go on at Braintree Town Hall on the evening of Thursday, December 3, they will light a building whose holiday lighting the Festival of Trees helped pay for. Elizabeth Inglis, the festival's founder, told the >Braintree Electric Light Department board in April 2025 that the first festival, held in December 2024, raised just under $40,000. According to those minutes, the profits paid for outdoor lighting around Town Hall and the Thayer Public Library and also covered emergency help for residents.
The decorated trees and raffle tickets are how the money gets raised. The organization behind them describes itself as a fund. The >festival's mission statement calls it "the primary mechanism for businesses, foundations, and individual donors to invest in programs (including but not limited to schools, sports, neighborhoods, and personal emergency situations) to improve the lives of Braintree residents." It also says the fund is "non-partisan" and runs "separate from the mayoral and town council administration."
The third festival runs December 3 through 6, 2026, at Braintree Town Hall. Seen as a fund, the four-day schedule makes more sense. So does the way the event has grown since 2024.
What year one paid for
The first festival had 48 trees, according to the same BELD minutes. >Patch's preview from December 2024 described a $5 admission that included one raffle ticket and treats. Fasano's Catering donated the cocoa and cookies, and the Braintree High School Choir sang at the tree lighting outside.
Taken together, small entry fees and dozens of donated trees added up to:
- Holiday lighting at Town Hall and the library, which the festival also covered in a >post on its own site
- Emergency assistance for residents
- Start-up costs for a new organization. Inglis told the BELD board that the first year carried one-time fees for setting up accounts, including the 501(c)
She also told the board the group was "being very careful with how they are spending their money right now as so many emergencies can come up at the last minute." That caution is the fund model at work, with emergencies treated as part of the budget.
The fund also takes requests. In October 2025 the festival posted an >open call for proposals, inviting residents with "a need for funding or a community project in the works" to get in touch. To be considered, a proposal needs a plan and a set budget, and the board looks for "a clear benefit to our community." For a youth team, a neighborhood group or a school club with a project in mind, that page is the way in.
The festival has not posted totals for 2025. Its homepage says only that the first two years "were more successful than we could have ever hoped."
How a Town Hall raffle grew onto the block
At the April 2025 BELD meeting, Inglis laid out a bigger plan for the second festival. The organizers hoped for 85 trees, up from 48. The fire station would decorate its building and host a Saturday-night event with Santa. In the words of the minutes, "They are trying to involve more people and make it the whole block this year." The board voted that night to sponsor at the gold level.
The 2026 >sponsor page now lists BELD as the Platinum Sponsor. Clean Harbors holds the top "Top our Tree" spot, Brewster Ambulance is a Red Sponsor, and Dedham Savings, Marinelli Law, and MKE Development Corp & Distinctive Pergolas are Green Sponsors. In its >sponsor spotlight, Clean Harbors notes that it opened its first location in Braintree more than four decades ago.
The block-wide idea shows up in this year's schedule too. Saturday starts at the Braintree Firehouse and ends with a walk to Town Hall. The full lineup follows.
Four days, four audiences
The festival's >event schedule calls itself a sample that is "subject to change," so check it again the week of the event. As posted, each day is built around a different part of town.
Thursday, December 3: opening night. The tree lighting is outside at 5 p.m., and the indoor festival opens from 5:30 to 8 p.m. This is the evening that draws the most families, and in 2024 the town's annual tree lighting and the festival's first night were the same event.
Friday, December 4: Festive Friday, 7 to 10 p.m. This is the adults' night: free appetizers, a cash bar with beer and wine, a silent auction, and live music from Tommy Scully. The schedule shows "$25 Tickets," but its link goes to the Givebutter page for last year's Festive Friday on December 5, 2025, so the 2026 price is still unconfirmed.
Saturday, December 5: First Responder Day, 3 to 7 p.m. Police, fire and EMT personnel get in free. From 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Braintree Firehouse there is a visit with Santa, plus cocoa, cookies and crafts. At 4:30 a Holiday Stroll walks from the firehouse to Town Hall, and Touch-a-Truck starts at 4:45. For families with young children, this is the easiest afternoon to plan around.
Sunday, December 6: Seniors Day, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors 65 and older get in free, and the NE Coffee Truck is on site. From 2 to 6 p.m. raffle winners pick up their trees. That pickup window is the only winner logistics the festival has posted for 2026. Anyone who plans to win a 10-foot tree should keep that Sunday afternoon open and have something big enough to carry it home.
The free days are telling. A fund that has paid for public lighting and funded emergency help gives its free admission to first responders and older residents, and puts its family programming at the firehouse.
What goes under a tree, and how to donate one
>Thayer Academy says it sponsored a tree that first year, "decorated with a number of gifts, including a free week at Camp Thayer." One raffle ticket can win a tree along with every gift that comes with it.
The >donate-a-tree page says businesses ("restaurants, stores, banks, nail salons"), groups ("youth sports teams, schools, non-profit organizations") and personal trees ("friends, book club, pickleball partners") are all welcome. The festival has not posted a 2026 deadline, and setup is about a month away, so a group thinking about a tree should reserve now. The steps:
- Reserve a space. The reservation form holds a spot before you have settled on a theme, size or color.
- Submit the decorating form. It asks for the tree's name, size, theme, gift details, any dedication and a preferred setup time. The setup options on that form don't quite match the main page, so confirm your slot with the festival directly.
- Plan for the rules. Total height, topper included, cannot go over 10 feet. Trees should have a skirt, a topper and LED lights, and they may be seen from every side. Edible items, spray adhesives, loose glitter, confetti and artificial snow need approval first, and spraying or hot gluing on site is not allowed.
- Block out setup time. Setup is December 1 or 2, 2026. The festival suggests allowing four to six hours and bringing a step stool or ladder. The festival team decides where each tree goes.
- Hand over the valuables. Gift cards and tickets go to a Festival Board member at check-in, and copies go on the tree. The originals are given only to the winners. Ornaments and other valuable items should be wired to the tree or secured under it.
The page also states that "All items placed with the tree are part of the raffle," so whatever goes on or under a tree goes home with its winner.
The organizers are all Braintree residents. Inglis chairs the board, Linda Adler is vice-chair, Kelly Drew is treasurer and Karen Lane is secretary. The committee members are Dick Inglis, Lisa Inglis, Marisa Moscaritolo, Patty Nashawaty, Jaye Nashawaty and Lani Taormina. Anyone who would rather give time than a tree can sign up through the festival's >volunteer page.
Still to be announced for 2026
Several details were still unposted in late October. The festival has not published a 2026 general admission price, raffle ticket packages, or how entries for a specific tree are drawn. The last published figures are from 2024, when $5 got you in with one raffle ticket. The schedule page asks visitors to keep checking back and to follow the festival on social media for updates. Those updates will likely come in the last weeks of November.
The 2025 tree count also hasn't been published. Organizers set a goal of 85 trees that year, up from 48 in 2024. The homepage promises a raffle of more than 50 trees in 2026, and every one of them adds to the fund.
Chenell Blake at Arcay Realty cares about the community events that make Braintree feel like home. If you're a Braintree homeowner curious what your house might be worth heading into the new year, she's glad to talk it through personally. Get a Free Home Valuation, and see you at Town Hall on December 3.
