Celebrating Greenville’s Vibrant Growth at the Bon Secours St. Francis Festival of Trees

McMillan Pazdan Smith Celebrates 40 Years of the Festival of Trees

For four decades, the Bon Secours St. Francis Festival of Trees has been a cherished holiday tradition for Upstate residents and visitors alike. Each year, families and friends stroll between the Hyatt Regency and Courtyard by Marriott hotels in downtown Greenville to admire dozens of beautifully decorated Christmas trees, each one showcasing its own unique theme and design.

The festival holds a special place in McMillan Pazdan Smith’s holiday traditions. It began in 1986, organized by the mother of Joe Pazdan, one of the founding principals at McMillan Pazdan Smith (MPS). Today, the Pazdan family remains deeply involved, along with the Bon Secours St. Francis Foundation, who ensure proceeds from the event go to developing patient care and funding medical advancements. This year’s proceeds benefit the William Carpenter Heart Fund, which provides critical equipment and supplies for heart patients at Bon Secours St. Francis. Since its inception, the festival has raised millions to support patient care and medical advancements across the Upstate.

The MPS Greenville studio team comprised of architects, interior designers, and administrative staff have been hard at work creating a special tree that celebrates “Greenville’s Vibrant Growth.” This design features lanterns adorned with hand-drawn illustrations of historic buildings, tracing the city’s evolution from a textile hub to a thriving urban center. Most of the images were hand-drawn by MPS team members, but a few were provided by local artists with Urban Sketchers Greenville, recently featured in our last show for 2025 at Sift Gallery, inside the McMillan Pazdan Smith lobby.

Starting November 21, 2025 — more than 50 artfully decorated trees by local schools, nonprofits, and businesses will light up downtown, spreading holiday cheer.

Celebrating Greenville’s Vibrant Growth

The MPS tree for 2025 celebrates Greenville’s journey from its textile roots to the vibrant city we enjoy today. A cotton tree skirt honors Greenville’s heritage as the “Textile Center of the South” when local mill villages powered a thriving economy. A blue ribbon winds from the water wheel at the top through the branches, symbolizing the meandering Reedy River that provided the crucial power for mills like Camperdown, Huguenot, Judson, and Vardry McBee’s Factory / Conestee Mills.

As the textile era faded, the river continued to shape downtown Greenville, inspiring distinctive bridges, beautiful parks, and the thriving restaurants and businesses that line its banks. Each lantern on the tree (displayed in chronological order) contains a drawing of a building that played a significant role in Greenville’s storied history and culture. From mill architecture to colorful murals, Greenville continues to delight as a place where art, food, community, commerce, and nature grow in harmony together.

Learn more about this year’s “historic” ornamental lanterns created by our McMillan Pazdan Smith team below.