For Fort Wayne resident Kevin Pio, waiting to view the downtown holiday decorations until after the annual Night of Lights is unthinkable.

“You can’t do it,” he said Wednesday while his children made Santa magnets inside the Parks and Recreation Community Center, one of about a dozen sites participating in the event.

His family was among those who arrived for the festivities well before holiday lights blinked on for the season at multiple locations, including the PNC Bank building at Main and Calhoun streets. That’s the longtime home of the display depicting Santa and his reindeer.

The countdown to illuminate that 155-foot display has attracted upward of 50,000 people in previous years.

Kayla Parris and her family, including 15-year-old Alivia and 7-month-old Molly, claimed their spot

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