As Hannukah is celebrated through sundown on Jan. 2, Boulder and Broomfield counties are honoring the eight-day winter festival of lights with a variety of activities. The holiday, which is traditionally celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, began on Dec. 25.

On Sunday, Chabad Broomfield is partnering with FlatIrons Crossing to host a community menorah lighting and Hanukkah celebration.

The free community event takes place at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the food court at FlatiIron Crossing, 1 W. Flatiron Crossing Drive, Broomfield. It will include the lighting of a giant menorah as well as traditional Jewish food, like latkes and sufganiyot, or jelly donuts.

“This is our first annual menorah lighting of its kind we’re doing in Broomfield, something Chabad does throughout the country and the world,” said Rabbi Yossi Rapoport, director of Chabad of Broomfield.

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement is a Jewish movement that began over 200 years ago, and is guided by its founders’ love for Jewish people and its desire to help the Jewish community in need. Chabad Broomfield is the county’s hub for Jewish life and culture.

Hanukkah is the eight-day festival of lights celebrated each year to remember the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The event is characterized by the nightly lighting of the menorah, special prayers and various fried foods.

“We all have darkness — whether in our personal lives, communal lives,” Rapoport said. “Internationally, there’s darkness, there are forces of darkness — meaning negativity, division, pain and suffering. The message of Hanukkah is that we can light that up.

We don’t need the biggest lights in the world, when we light that one candle, we dispel so much darkness.”

Rapoport said that the message of Hanukkah is one of warmth and unity, a community coming together to celebrate, despite its differences.“Lighting the menorah shows that despite any political or social differences, economic differences we might have,” he said, “when we come together and light the menorah, it really is about sending a message of hope, of unity, and most of all, lightness and goodness and kindness.”

Mayor Guyleen Castriotta will speak at the event, and said she’s excited to have an event of its kind come to Broomfield.

“Before the Chabad center, the Jewish community of Broomfield had to go to Westminster or other towns, and so we’re just so grateful that they’re here,” Castriotta said.

Castriotta said that the event is a way to reassure the community that Broomfield will always remain accepting and open to all kinds of people, no matter what changes may come to the area.

“I get a lot of folks that are scared about the future and the uncertainty, that things will change,” she said. “ I reassure them that here in Broomfield, we will continue to be in a welcoming and inclusive and equitable community, and this is just my way of showing that support.”

Nearby communities have menorah lightings and other Hanukkah events on tap, so members of the Jewish community and beyond can celebrate the season across the Front Range.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, Longmont will host its annual Chanukah Bowl at Centennial Lanes, 110 E. 9th Ave., Longmont.

The event will include special performances from Chabad Hebrew School students. Tickets are $15-$25 and can be found at JewishLongmont.com/bowl

At 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Boulder, the Boulder JCC and Boulder County Center for Judaism are teaming up to host Chanukah on Ice at Louisville’s Old Town Skate, 824 Front St., Louisville.

The event will include Jewish music, sufganiyot (jelly donuts), hot chocolate and a menorah lighting. To RSVP, visit bit.ly/407SXum.

At 5:30 p.m. Monday, the Boulder JCC and Boulder County Center for Judaism will host Chanukah on Pearl, featuring a menorah lighting on the 1300 block of Pearl Street in Boulder.

The annual outdoor event begins at 5:30 and includes Jewish music, hot latkes, fresh sufganiyot (jelly donuts) and Hanukkah favors. For more information, visit bit.ly/407OiZx.