CRANBERRY TWP — The township’s holiday season will kick off with the visit from Santa Claus Nov. 20.

The Cranberry Township Municipal Center will host Santa’s annual visit and other activities.

“It’s one of the bigger events we do,” coordinator Valerie Murphy said. “A lot of the community likes to get involved with the event.”

Santa will arrive on a decorated fire truck to greet the residents and to light the community tree on the center’s front lawn.

At 6 p.m., families will have a myriad of activities to do to celebrate the holiday season. Murphy says about 1,000 people show up each year.

Two reindeer will be at the event for people to feed and to interact with. The reindeer come from Living Treasures Animal Park.

“Painting with a Twist” is a new event this year. Murphy said artists from the organization will come to do face painting for children.

Music will be provided by the Dutilh United Methodist Church choir.

People also will have the opportunity to see a giant LEGO train display built by the Steel City Lego Users Group. The train is expected to be 10 feet by 20 feet. The display also will be up from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

“It is always a thrill to create something and have it appreciated by others,” said Steel City LUG member Tim Freshly. “I’ve been doing LEGO displays for 15 years and it never gets old.”

Freshly said while the final display takes about three to four hours to assemble, each portion takes about three to four weeks to build.

“Some of the parts of the display have been assembled for years while other sections are brand new,” Freshly said. “We always try to create new sections between each display we do, so that even if someone has seen a previous display, there will be something new to discover.”

The event not only launches the holiday season, but also the 2015 Cranberry Holiday Tree Gallery in the municipal center. More than 20 nonprofit organizations will have small trees, each decorated in themes reflecting each organization’s mission, in November and December.

“It’s to help raise awareness about their organizations,” Murphy said.

A toy collection coordinated by Toys for Tots will be open for donations that Friday evening. The collection includes a stuff an ambulance event.

“It brings the community together for our holiday events for our residents,” Murphy said.