The annual City Hall tree lighting is set for Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. Photo by Mason Callejas

The community is invited to a big night at City Hall on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Mayor Christian Price will light the City Hall Christmas Tree. Festivities include a special visit from Santa, hot cider, cookies and musical entertainment from Marissa and Brandon Montgomery, Phillip and Ella Ehrbright and the Maricopa Choir. Maricopa Youth Council members will also read holiday poems.

Maricopa ARTS Council will also open its first solo gallery, a photography showcase titled “Faces of Maricopa,” the brainchild of former councilmember Carl Diedrich.

“Faces of Maricopa” is a 20-piece work, part of a larger work of photographic art that is meant to evolve over time: a capsule portrait of our city presented through individual candid photographs taken at differing locations around town of a wide cross-section of Maricopans. Each photo is accompanied by that person’s thoughts of the day preserved in quotation and each single “portrait” is taken on its own particular date.

The original idea was to focus on a single person’s “portrait” in photo and words on every single day throughout 2017, but the project is now stretching forward to encompass several following years and may not be completed to its full 365-piece length until close to 2020.

The ceremony will be followed by the City Council Meeting at 7 p.m. City Hall is located at 39700 W. Civic Center Plaza.