New York City’s Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets was filled with spectators on Monday night in eager anticipation of the Saks Fifth Avenue holiday window unveiling and light show. The annual display turns the façade of Saks’ New York flagship store into a sound and light spectacular that has now become an iconic part of the Fifth Avenue holiday tradition.

Store facade

Saks President, Marc Metrick, opened the evening, introducing the event, which he said had taken 364 days to plan “with the goal to bring joy to everybody who walks by our store.” This marks Metrick’s 20th holiday season at Saks and he described this year’s theme, entitled Land Of 1000 Delights, as “a whimsical landscape of colorful candy and festive fashion. At Saks we call it candy couture.”

The crowd outside the store admiring the holiday windows

After Metrick’s remarks, 85 dancers, from the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School Pre -Professional Division, filled the street in front of the store, dancing to the music of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. Then it was time for the night’s main event: a ten-story light show that illuminated the building’s facade with candy colored spires in an extravaganza that even included a fireworks display on the rooftop of the store.

The Store facade after the event

At the conclusion of the show, the holiday windows were revealed. The store’s center six windows, along Fifth Avenue, collectively called The Nutcracker Suite, show a series of animated scenes featuring the beloved Nutcracker characters, Clara and the Mouse King, in an enchanted wonderland of luscious sweets.

Holiday window Act II Food Fight

The colorful candy theme continues in Saks 49th and 50th Street windows, which feature bespoke dresses by designers Erdem, Carolina Herrera, Marchesa and Jason Wu. Each of the one-of-a-kind dresses is inspired by a traditional holiday sweet treat.

Act V Bake A Leg

After the unveiling, everyone was invited inside the store for complementary special events on each floor, including live music, cocoa bars, photo booths and candy from Dylan’s Candy Bar.

Saks Live Music on the sixth floor

Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday light show, presented by MasterCard, will play every 10 minutes, from 5 to 11 PM (EST) each day, until January 2, 2017. The whimsical candy and couture holiday theme will be featured in each of the retailer’s 41 stores in the U.S and Canada.

– Rhonda Erb
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