BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Hallmark Channel has partnered with the City of Bethlehem to host a live stream of the city’s historic downtown as part of the channel's Countdown to Christmas, officials announced Monday.
- The Hallmark Channel is streaming a live feed of Main Street in Bethlehem
- The stream is active from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. through Dec. 30
- Watch here
A camera on a tall yellow stick near Main and Walnut streets will broadcast a stream of Main Street to the Hallmark Channel website from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily through Dec. 30. It started Monday, Nov. 28.
“We've always known that we've got a pretty great Main Street here. It does look like a Christmas card,” said Tammy Wendling, senior vice president of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce. “We're one of five cities that have been chosen to showcase Christmas and to give all the feels to the entire world.”
“What you feel when you're here — the sense of gathering, the sense of community, the sense of history — you feel that and you embrace it when you come here.”Tammy Wendling, senior vice president of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce
In addition to showing the usual traffic and seasonal decorations in the historic district, the camera will capture carriage rides making their way down Main Street and the Star of Bethlehem lit up at night.
“What you feel when you're here — the sense of gathering, the sense of community, the sense of history — you feel that and you embrace it when you come here,” Wendling said. “So to just be able to display that on a large forum such as the world wide web, it's a pretty incredible opportunity.”
That Christmas-card aesthetic, right out of a Hallmark movie, is exactly what the company was looking for when it selected towns to stream. Along with the company’s Enchant Christmas Village in St. Petersburg, Florida, live streams show St. Paul, Minn., Corning, New York and Harbor Springs, Michigan.
Hallmark approached Bethlehem city officials in October, and they quickly engaged the Citizens’ Christmas City Committee, part of the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce. Production staff from Hallmark mailed a camera, and the two groups worked together to get it set up and streaming.
“It was a pretty lengthy process that happened in the course of a month, I believe,” Wendling said. “So it happened very fast.”
