Salamanca begins Silver Bells Festival

SALAMANCA, N.Y. (AP) - The western New York hometown of the man who wrote the lyrics to a Christmas favorite is kicking off its annual Silver Bells Festival.

Lyricist Ray Evans and composer Jay Livingston wrote "Silver Bells" in 1950. Bing Crosby's version of the song became a holiday standard, and hundreds of other performers have covered it over the past 60-plus years.

Evans was a native of Salamanca, a city near the Pennsylvania border 50 miles south of Buffalo.

Salamanca is kicking off its 10th annual Silver Bells Festival, a monthlong series of events featuring music, theater, craft shows, parties and other events.

Evans and Livingston won the Academy Awards for Best Original Song three times, including for writing "Mona Lisa" and "Que Sera Sera."

Evans died in 2007, six years after Livingston passed away.

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http://www.salamancachamber.org