Winter Festival - A Celebration of Lights, Music, and the Arts is an event held for over a three week period from mid-November to early December in Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

History

It was the fall of 1986, and the City of Tallahassee http://www.talgov.com/ had just purchased new outdoor lights and decorations for the upcoming winter holiday season. A small group of local citizens banded together to organize a small, intimate holiday community event, to show off the new decorations. And thus, the first Winter Festival was staged, with all of one entertainment stage, the brief lighting ceremony and “Santa’s Alleyway” on the north side of City Hall. Barely 6,000 hardy visitors braved bitter cold temperatures on the first Friday in December that year, but enough enthusiasm was created to turn the event into an annual celebration.

Over those first several years, the Winter Festival grew substantially, adding visitor-friendly elements including the Nighttime Holiday Parade, Santa’s Enchanted Forest, a food court, more live entertainment stages, fine arts competitions and, the always-popular Jingle Bell Run. (Winter Festival Media Guide 2009)

The Winter Festival, A Celebration of Lights, Music & the Arts is honored by the Southeast Tourism Society http://www.southeasttourism.org/ as one of the top 20 events in the southeastern region of the United States.

Events

• Songs of the Season - New for 2009. Choral event held on Kleman Plaza on the Friday evening before the Winter Festival. Santa Claus is also in attendance for photo opportunities.
• Lighting Ceremony - The ceremony begins the festivities and the decorative lights of Tallahassee are turned on by the mayor John Marks
  John Marks (mayor)
  John R. Marks, III is the Mayor of the City of Tallahassee, Florida. He is Tallahassee's fifth African-American mayor but the first to be elected, and won his bid for a third term in the 2010 elections. He received his B.S. degree in 1969 from the Florida State University School of Business and his...
  
   at 6:15pm.
• Jingle Bell Run - This is a 3K race through the downtown streets open to all. With thousands of area runners and walkers entered as well as skaters
  Roller skating
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  , rollerblade
  Rollerblade
  Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned by Nordica, part of the Tecnica Group of Trevignano, Treviso, Italy.The company was started by Scott Olsen and Brennan Olson in Minneapolis as Ole's Innovative Sports; when they sold the company, it became Rollerblade, Inc...
  
  rs, infant
  Infant
  A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
  
  s, toddler
  Toddler
  A toddler is a young child, usually defined as being between the ages of one and three. Registered nurse, midwife and author, Robin Barker, states 'Any time from eight months onwards your baby will begin to realise he is a separate person from you...
  
  s in stroller
  Stroller
  Stroller may refer to:*A form of baby transport*Stroller , men's daytime semiformal wear*Stroller , showjumping champion...
  
  s, and dogs in Santa hats and jingle bells, Mayor Marks gives the count down to the start.
• Holiday Parade - A parade proceeds down Monroe Street with floats and bands.http://www.talgov.com/parks/winter/index.cfm

• Festival Merchandise vendors sell a variety of foods and merchandise.
• 5 Stages of Entertainment - There are five stages for various forms of entertainment.

• Ice Skating - Skating is provided for all ages at Tallahassee's Kleman Plaza. To help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Winter Festival in 2006, the Tallahassee Parks and Recreation Department and Friends of Our Parks Foundation purchased a portable outdoor ice skating rink. In 2007, ice skating is moving to the North Florida Fairgrounds. No ice skating in 2008 or 2009.

• Elf Night Dorothy B. Oven Park Hosts Annual Elf Night featuring over 250,000 lights, the public is invited to stroll through the house and grounds to enjoy the sights and sounds of the season. The Parks and Recreation Department begins the project in September so that it can be finished by December.