Canceled for several years due to the COVID emergency, a beloved event is coming back to life this year to celebrate the approaching holiday of Christmas.

The public is cordially invited to the Community Advent Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 2, at Moravian Village, 526 Wood St. in Bethlehem. Featured at the breakfast will be appearances by Charlene Donchez Mowers, president of Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites, Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds, and a choir from a Bethlehem school (TBD).

Tickets for the breakfast are available at the front desk of Moravian Village until Nov. 13 or ordered online from brittneyc@lehighvalleychamber.org. As of Oct. 31 over 100 tickets were already sold.

Another public event being rescheduled this year is the annual Christmas tree lighting in Payrow Plaza. The date has been moved back to its traditional spot, Black Friday, Nov. 24, at 4:30 p.m.

Planning Bethlehem’s events during the Christmas season is the work of a committee of volunteers that one member jokingly calls “the city’s elves.” They include representatives from the City of Bethlehem, the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce, and Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites. Also participating are representatives from Touchstone Theater, Lost Cavern Brewing, ArtsQuest, the South Side Arts District and the Downtown Bethlehem Association, among other groups.

The committee plans the lighting ceremony for the city’s Christmas tree, manages the Christmas trellis in Payrow Plaza – where decorations can be ordered to display on the trellis – and plans the annual public breakfast. Busy elves, for sure.