ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Easter Bunny will hop into the Ohio Valley Mall to visit with local children beginning March 20.

The annual Easter Bunny arrival celebration will take place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 20 at the Boscov center court area in the mall.

The event kicks off the mall’s traditional two-week period of spring photo sessions.

Candi Noble-Greathouse, marketing director for the mall, said the event will entail the bunny’s arrival, activities and pre-packaged snack bags for children who attend. Various local organizations will provide crafts and activities from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., while the photo sessions will take place throughout the day.

The mall encourages those who plan to attend to register for the event with a link that will be posted on the mall’s website.

Noble-Greathouse said COVID-19 safety precautions will be in place that will be similar to those used in December’s Photos with Santa event — a Plexiglas safety divider will be between the child and the Easter Bunny, facial coverings will be worn and social distancing will be practiced.

“There will be a divider between the child and the bunny so it will be no touch, and it will be cleaned after every child,” she said.

People wishing to have their child’s photo taken with the Easter Bunny may wait in line or schedule an appointment ahead of time. She said there will be five sessions booked every 5-10 minutes to ensure spacing between appointments. Appointments can be made at ediimaging.com/easter.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the mall was unable to hold the spring event last year. Easter occurred just weeks after schools and businesses were shot down to help slow the spread of the illness. Today, cases of the disease are on the decline. Noble-Greathouse said the mall is looking forward to resuming the annual event this year.

“We were about one week away from the Easter Bunny arriving last year when everything began, so we’re really looking forward to getting to have the Easter Bunny this year,” she said. “We’re getting very excited that spring is on its way and the Easter Bunny is, too.”

This year, a brand new Easter photo set is being used for the photos that includes a butterfly chair children will sit in, she said.

Treats, sponsored by Chick-fil-A, will be provided to attendees throughout each of the photo events.

The photos with the Easter Bunny will take place from March 20 through April 2. Photo sessions are available from noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.