Save the date, UVA Students, people of Charlottesville, and anyone else who wants to enjoy the 15th annual Lighting of the Lawn: Thursday December 3, 7 p.m.

The theme is "How the Grinch Stole Wahoowa," which is a nice little play on the legend that Dr. Seuss wrote his Christmas classic about our beloved university (unfortunately, the rumor is not true, but we can still pretend).

This year will be the 15th year of LOTL, so here is a short history on the event. After the attacks of 2001, Lighting of the Lawn was first held as a way to help the students of UVA and the people of the surrounding area heal after the tragic events of 9/11. Since 2001, LOTL has become a staple holiday event for UVA and the people of Charlottesville, and it is my personal favorite UVA tradition.

To celebrate 15 years of LOTL, there have been some changes incorporated into this year's event. One of them is the incorporation of performances by groups from Charlottesville, including two high school a cappella groups and a local singing group from the area. There are also going to be dance performances this year, which is also a new addition.

Mary DeShields, the co-chair for Lighting of the Lawn says: “Since this year is the 15th anniversary of Lighting of the Lawn, we’re trying to raise the bar yet again and ‘wow’ the audience. I’m really looking forward to seeing the reaction to a few of our big changes this year.”

And then there's the light show -- the only light show on a UNESCO World Heritage site, if I remember correctly. And, if you haven't noticed, quite a bit of the Rotunda has resurfaced, with the removal of the always-present scaffolding we've had to bear witness to all semester. Which means the Rotunda will be lit by a crazy amount of LED lights, with a show set to music. It's going to be fantastic.

If you need more convincing, check out the video from last year.

Though admission to event is free for everyone, there will be fundraising throughout the week for Hope House, and you can buy a 15th anniversary T-shirt (there are only 300!) or send LightGrams to your friends if you stop by the Lawn this week.

I personally will be enjoying the event with my hot chocolate and hot apple cider, while trying to forget that this will be my last LOTL as an undergraduate. I'm also extremely excited to see how the fourth-year poem turned out, because somehow every year's poem is better than the last, so I hope we keep that tradition going.

I hope that everyone makes the effort to come to the Lawn to experience one of the best UVA traditions, and to be a part of the community that we all hold near and dear to our hearts.