It’s never too early to start planning your holiday activations and lighting programs. Learn from the organizers of the a diverse collection of winter activations in Chicago, Orlando, and Portland, Maine.
Winter Events
Sub Categories: Winter Events
Festival of Markets
The Festival of Markets took place in December 2021 for four consecutive weekends on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a one day event held on December 23rd. Each weekend had a different theme and vendors including IndigenART, POPArt, Very Vintage Xmas, Afrik and Last Minute London. Vendors who were featured at our Festival of Markets came from various ethnicities including individuals from African, Asian and Indigienous descent as well as members from the LGBTQ+ community.
Night Circus: A District New Year’s Spectacular
The Cool Spring Downtown District partnered with the city to launch the inaugural Night Circus: A District New Year’s Eve Spectacular. The family-friendly event was the first NYE celebration to occur in the city in nearly a decade. The event brought the magic of a traveling circus to the heart of Fayetteville. As the last seconds to midnight counted down, a commissioned 18ft. multi-colored star rose above the crowd, illuminated at midnight from within and without via a vibrant fireworks display.
The Junction Window Wonderland Exhibition
Toronto’s magical Window Wonderland, a free immersive urban art walk, returned to the Junction for its second consecutive year. From November 2021 to January 2022, Window Wonderland transformed the Junction into an interactive, outdoor gallery featuring 20 unique augmented reality (AR) installations by 40 talented local and international artists.
Advancing Places: Holiday and Winter Activations
It’s that time of year again where we need to start planning for holiday events and winter activations. Join this webinar and learn about three different organizations who have developed holiday events and activations to draw consumers to their districts and also learn how some organizations are embracing winter and getting people out during the cold winter months.
World of Winter
The World of Winter Festival is a two-month long festival that takes advantage of Michigan’s cold climate to provide interesting ways for people to experience and enjoy the season. This Festival aspires to make Grand Rapids a more active winter city, making Grand Rapids an active year-round city by hosting all activities outdoors in public spaces. All programming and activities are FREE, socially distanced for these pandemic times and geared for both families and adults.
Make It Bright on Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue, the world’s most famous street and the centerpiece of New York City’s holiday splendor brightened the Big Apple like never before with Make it Bright, a new campaign that takes two-holiday staples – toys and lights – to a new level.
Placemaking & Events Roundtable
Has the pandemic paused your district’s placemaking and public events or have you been able to adjust to the new realities of physical-distancing and face-coverings? This roundtable conversation will focus on sharing new ideas and necessary innovations for pandemic-era placemaking and public events.
Merry Madness
The first Thursday in December is a BIG night in Portland, Maine, as MERRY MADNESS takes over downtown! This event is Portland Downtown’s signature holiday shopping extravaganza, bringing together 1200 guests and more than 75 participating businesses for an evening of joy and merriment like no other.
Event Planning, Advocacy and Economic Development Through Smart Data
We’ve all heard about smart data, but how does it play a role in public space activations? This panel of downtown experts will share how pedestrian data and engaging mobile surveys helped enable partners in San Francisco and Dallas advocate successfully to municipal partners, increase sponsorships in dramatic ways, enhance economic development programs and create special destinations.
Main Street Christmas Light Extravaganza
The Main Street Christmas Light Extravaganza is an event that spans four city blocks in downtown Macon. Over 500,000 Christmas lights adorn the landscape in the medians of Poplar Street and Third Street. Bryan Nichols partnered with NewTown Macon to win grant funding to launch the show and achieve the goal of attracting more people. In 2018, the Main Street Christmas Light Show doubled attendance and attracted over 200,000 people to downtown Macon during the holiday season.
The Downtown Huntsville Tinsel Trail
Tinsel Trail is a free display of live Christmas trees in Downtown Huntsville’s Big Spring Park. Over 300 trees decorate Big Spring Park for the holiday season. Downtown Huntsville, Inc. purchases the trees and then sells them to local companies, community groups, and individuals who then decorate the trees to their own custom theme. The event is free to the public and open 24/7. Special activities such as family fun runs, musical performances and caroling occur throughout the event.
DTLA // IRL
For the holiday season, Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID) presented DTLA//IRL (Downtown Los Angeles In Real Life) – an elaborate pop-up experience in the vacant retail spaces of a corner building on a prime retail corridor. Equal parts retail store, visitors’ center, event space, and art installation, the initiative showcased the vibrant culture, community, and commerce of DTLA
Paul Jordan Master Talk
Paul Jordan is the CEO of The Forks North Portage Partnership in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Having a passion for the continued development of Winnipeg, Paul has been active in the creation of waterfront access projects, which have led to multiple initiatives within the city. He was instrumental in the creation and implementation of Target Zero, The Forks’ environmental vision to reach zero carbon emissions.
Downtown in December
In 2016, Downtown Greensboro, Inc. (DGI) was tasked with taking over the annual Festival of Lights, a hallmark holiday event for the community. With the goal of lighting up downtown throughout the holidays, DGI expanded holiday programming and created “Downtown in December,” a month-long celebration featuring the Festival of Lights, a holiday parade, carolers, Santa visits, an ice rink and a Santa-Con pub crawl.
Downtown Denver Rink at Skyline Park
The Downtown Denver Rink at Skyline Park is a nearly full-?sized ice rink that sits downtown at the corner of 16th and Arapahoe St. and is open daily from Nov. 22, 2017 Feb. 14, 2018. The rink is part of a series of strategic initiatives from the Downtown Denver Partnership that helps to create diverse and attractive programming and encourage a wide variety of cultural, leisure, entertainment and recreation in Downtown Denver’s parks and public spaces.
To Outsource or Not to Outsource: How to Monetize Events
Does your organization produce numerous events? Is it labor intensive and are you asking yourself should we be doing these events in house or outsource to a vendor? Attend this session and learn from practitioners with different perspectives on why they do events in house and/or outsource.