POCATELLO — Hundreds of tuba players will gather in cities around the world this week to honor a legendary musician born on Christmas Day, and Pocatello will join them as part of the Festival of Trees at Idaho State University’s Stephens Performing Arts Center.

The festival will open to the public from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, and Friday, Nov. 21, and from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22.

“This year we’re donating to seven organizations,” said Suzette Porter, the management assistant in ISU’s College of Business. “We’re breaking a record there.”

The Festival of Trees will raise money for the All About the Animals Coalition, the Friends of Edson Fichter Nature Area, Idaho State University scholarships, Make-A-Wish Idaho, the Pocatello Free Clinic, the School District 25 Education Foundation and the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

“That’s what we do,” Porter said. “We raise the funds for the community and education.”

Festival of Trees is an annual event. This will be the fourth year the College of Business has hosted it, but others have hosted it in the past.

“The school district did it for 10 years, and before that the hospital did it,” Porter said.

The College of Business started using themes for the trees last year. This year’s theme is “The Polar Express.”

Porter said the theme will allow for creativity with the decorations on the trees, and she thinks people coming to the festival will have fun with it.

“People love to dress up with the theme,” Porter said. “It makes it fun and interactive.”

The best part about the Festival of Trees for Porter is seeing all the different trees.

“It’s nice to see the success of it all,” Porter said. “There are so many beautiful, unique trees. The most fun thing is to be surprised by the decorators and what they chose to decorate with.”

Festival of Trees will feature several events throughout the three days. Each day will include stories under the Christmas tree and pictures with Santa. General admission for each day is $5.

On Thursday, events will include a concert by Holy Spirit Catholic School and performances from the ISU Chamber Orchestra and the Snake River New Horizons Band.

Friday’s events will include TUBACHRISTMAS and the Children’s Royal Tea Party. Tickets will be required for the tea party.

Breakfast with Santa will be held Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Tickets will be required. Other Saturday events are the KIND Conservatory Recital and a performance from the Prodigy Music Academy.

The Friday TUBACHRISTMAS event is a concert held at 7:30 p.m. in honor of William John Bell, who was born on Christmas Day in 1902.

Chelsea Romney, coordinator of TUBACHRISTMAS, said this is the fourth year for the event in Pocatello.

The first TUBACHRISTMAS was held in 1974 after Bell’s death and was organized by his student, Harvey Phillips.

“More than 300 tuba players gathered at Rockefeller Center in New York to honor him,” Romney said. “They played Christmas carols.”

Today, TUBACHRISTMAS concerts are held around the world. They are presented with permission from the Harvey Phillips Foundation Inc.

“Some people will go on a plane to London or Berlin or Los Angeles,” Romney said. “I played at Disney with 600 people.”

Anyone is welcome to participate in TUBACHRISTMAS. There is no age limit for the players. Everyone who participates has fun playing with people of different ages and skill levels.

“We always honor our youngest and oldest players,” Romney said. “They may be as young as 10 and as old as 99.”

Tuba and euphonium players in the community will be featured during TUBACHRISTMAS. Performers will spend the evening playing Christmas songs.

“We also have a Hanukkah song to be more inclusive,” Romney said, adding that she looks forward to the festival because it supports a good cause.

“My favorite thing is the organizations that we give to,” Romney said. “We’re doing good for these organizations. It’s for a good cause.”

Tickets for the Festival of Trees can be purchased at isu.edu/cob/festival/.