Downtown Holiday Festival set for Saturday, Dec. 4

From press release

In some of America’s greatest cities, New York, Chicago and San Francisco among them, the holidays are not complete without a trip down each city’s shopping avenues to take in the extravagant holiday window displays, vendors and entertainment. This year, Rockford will be no different.

With the aim of making downtown Rockford an annual destination, filled with holiday spirit, local organizers are planning a Downtown Holiday Festival. This new community tradition will transform the city into a magical holiday experience for residents and visitors alike.

The event will be from 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 4, on East State Street, and will include the following:

• Tree Lighting Ceremony—Be there for the magic as the trees are lit inside City Hall to start the evening.

• Window Wonderland—This holiday window display competition features the works of local artists, students and interior designers who have created window displays for downtown storefront windows along the 100-500 blocks of East State Street. Be there for the spectacular public unveiling ceremony and great deals at participating downtown businesses.

• Food Vendors—Experience the taste of holiday treats as vendors bring you the best of the holiday season.

• Holiday Bazaar—Shop the local vendors for that special gift, crafts and more.

• Santa Claus—Boys and girls will share the joys of seeing Santa arrive on an actual one-horse open sleigh. Stay for the fun as children visit with Santa to relay their holiday wishes.

• Holiday Stories—Children can enjoy holiday stories by Borders while they wait for their turn to see Santa. Warm cookies will be provided, courtesy of Cliffbreakers.

• Roaming Carolers—Enjoy the sounds of the season as carolers walk the streets of downtown.

• High School Choirs and Marching Bands—Local high schoolers will bring the sounds of the season to Downtown Rockford. For participation, e-mail info@rockfordholidayfestival.com.

For more details, visit RockfordHolidayFestival.com.

Judges, participants set for Window Wonderland Competition

Event judges for the Dec. 4 Downtown Holiday Festival Window Wonderland Competition have been announced.

The Widow Wonderland Competition is designed to highlight the importance of the arts, and to unite the community, create a festive atmosphere throughout the city, as well as to attract customers to the downtown retail outlets.

As part of the event, local business owners have donated their storefront windows to be decorated. Professional artists, students and various groups will be assigned a window in which they will create and assemble a display.

Kimberly Buchanan, co-owner of Eventus, the full-service event production and meeting management company overseeing the competition, said: “We have a variety of people participating in the inaugural event, which promises to be a sight for all to see. No longer do we have to travel outside the city for a magical holiday experience.”

All windows will be unveiled at 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 4, during the Downtown Holiday Festival, which is scheduled from 5 to 9 p.m., in the 100-500 blocks of East State Street in downtown Rockford.

Judges for the competition include Ron Clewer, founding co-chairman of The Element; Georgette Braun, GO! columnist for the Rockford Register Star; Erik Lewis, Rockford Area Arts Council board member and attorney at Williams McCarthy LLP; Allison Embrey Medina, executive editor of Display and Design Ideas magazine, Alpharetta, Ga.; Mark Henderson, chief meteorologist at WIFR-23; and Ronald Knoth, professor of visual merchandising at LIM College in New York.

Local judges will put on their walking boots and tour the downtown storefronts, delighted in the creative, clever, and ever-entertaining designs that window teams across the city have spent hours planning and executing. Judges located outside the city will take to their computer screens to view the designs online. All judges will look at each window and assign a rating, on a scale of 1-10, within three categories: Content and Creativity, Visual Interest and Technical Skill. Those scores will then be tallied and a rating assigned to each.

All designers are required to incorporate a winter theme in their designs, as well as some aspect of the business where the windows are located.

The panel of judges will determine winners in the following two award categories:

• Best Professional Design: Professional artists and interior designers with a minimum of two years of experience.

• Best Student Design: College students and other groups that consist of students where the majority are younger than 18.

The public will determine winners in the following category:

• People’s Choice Award: Public voting takes place during the night of the unveiling and online. Votes are tallied to select a winner. All designs are judged in this category.

Participating businesses for the Window Wonderland Window Display Competition include Chocolat by Daniel; Carlyle Brewing Co.; NEST; Rockford Wellness & Diagnostic Center; CJ’s Lounge; Gary Anderson Architects; Fuzion Studios; Sacred Art Tattoo; Sims Jewelry; Rockford Orthopedic Appliance; Catholic Charities; Deli Italia; Five Spa; Social Urban Bar; Plush Gift Gallery; Scratch Pedicure Parlour; Office Nightclub; Brio; Quiet Lite Communications; Bamboo; Reformers Unanimous; Velasco & Associates; Wired Café; Sanders Design Group; Rockford Register Star; CD Source; and Rockford City Hall.

For more about the Window Wonderland Competition and the Downtown Holiday Festival visit rockfordholidayfestival.com.