ARLINGTON — When the tree in Legion Park is lit, the sweaters are garishly festive and Santa is rolling down Olympic Avenue in a covered wagon, you know it’s the Hometown Holidays in Arlington.

City recreation manager Sarah Lopez reported seeing more attendees than in previous years, lining the sidewalks for the Santa Parade at noon, and thronging the park for the tree-lighting that followed.

“I don’t think the weather stopped people from coming in, since I saw lots of umbrellas,” Lopez said.

The parade’s 20 entrants included a host of antique vehicle enthusiasts, among them the Sky Valley Tractor Club, who were new this year, as well as Ken and Shirley Countryman giving a lift to their grandchildren in a classic yellow school bus, Martin and Ann Giebel in a 1940 pickup truck, and even Lopez’s parents, Fred and Shiela Arnold, in a 1949 Packard with their grandkids.

Mayor Barbara Tolbert was joined by and her daughter in-law and granddaughters in the Santa wagon, along with the Owen Family, who were winners of the national Daily Point of Light Award for their work in developing 3-D printed prosthetic hands. Torrae Owen, 10, got to light the Christmas tree in Legion Park.

The parade offered plenty of song, dance, animals and spectacle, between the Kent Prairie Elementary Choir On Fire, the Arlington High School Flight Choir, the Arlington School of Dance, the Everett Eagle Drill Team, the New Moon Farm Goat Rescue and the 4-H Dog Club. The Choir On Fire would later sing carols in Legion Park, in the midst of the tree-lighting and the festive sweater contest, both emceed by Pastor Chad Blood, of the Lifeway Foursquare Church of Arlington.

Blood almost wasn’t able to make it this year, since his wife had a baby a couple days before the event, but he was on hand to ask the crowds which Christmas sweaters they considered most hideous and/or seasonally appropriate.

Kyle Knee’s “Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo” from South Park won third place, while Laylah Martinez’s tinsel-and-ornaments sweater took second and Lauren Davis’ frilly Christmas tree was applauded into first place.

“I’ve seen the whole gamut of Christmas sweaters by now,” Blood said. “Some have bells and balls, others even light up. I think a lot of people decorate their sweaters now the way they used to decorate their trees.”

Blood first took part in the Hometown Holidays less than a decade ago by providing hot cocoa and leading people in Christmas carols, but his role has grown since then, especially with Lifeway’s acquisition of the Olympic Theatre. After the Arlington merchants parking lot played host to a lineup of local musical talents from 1-3 p.m., thanks to the help of the Downtown Arlington Business Association and Youth Dynamics, Lifeway invited the community to a free holiday movie in the Olympic Theatre at 3 p.m., which was a new feature of this year’s festivities.

“People are very interested in the progress we’ve made with the theater,” said Blood, who touted the donation of a digital cinema projector. “It’s changed dramatically, and will continue to do so. We’ve raised funds and taken out loans because we want this to be a community center for family entertainment.”

To that end, the former Steak House storefront, which served as the site for Hometown Holiday crafts this year, is set to be converted into a nonprofit cafe by Lifeway.

“We have a heart for this community,” Blood said. “We celebrate to express our faith.”

That same afternoon, Arlingtonians showed their Christmas spirit by donating 137 food items to the Arlington Community Food Bank during their children’s visits with Santa in the Legion Park gazebo. Lopez credited Cristy Brubaker and her daughter-in-law, Kayla, with their assistance during the parade and Santa visits.

“Cristy was one of the original merchants who started the Santa Parade, and city employee Marc Hayes is our original Santa Claus,” said Lopez, who estimated the event has been an Arlington tradition for nearly 20 years.

Lopez reported that one little boy this year asked for “a real car,” complete with driver’s license, while one little girl was so afraid of seeing Santa that, when he offered her a candy cane, she threw it across the gazebo.

“I was in town to do some shopping, and was just impressed with the number of people and the overall atmosphere in the downtown area,” said Kurt Patterson, a city employee. “Lots of hustle and bustle and positive buzz.”