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 The Memorial Holiday Fest, organized by the Springfield Memorial
Foundation, will feature a festive cornucopia of community events
and family activities on Saturdays and Wednesday evenings between
Nov. 27 and Dec. 22 in its new location in downtown Springfield. The
hospital foundation is partnering with Downtown Springfield Inc.’s
Old Capitol Holiday Walks on the event, which is a revamping of
Memorial’s Festival of Trees that had been held for 30-plus years on
the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
“We’re excited to share the Memorial Holiday Fest with our
community,” said Melissa Hansen Schmadeke, executive director of the
Springfield Memorial Foundation. “Families will discover a host of
familiar activities as well as exciting new offerings.”
The theme for the premier holiday event is “A Season for Caring.”
Returning to the Memorial Holiday Fest will be creatively decorated
trees on display, peppered throughout downtown in storefronts,
restaurants and banks. The public will be able to vote on their
favorite trees to name the People’s Choice award. Trees will be on
display through the holidays. Wreaths will be on display at the
Illinois State Museum, 502 S. Spring St., and student-decorated
trees will be spotlighted at Illinois National Bank, 322 E. Capitol
Ave.
A map with the location of the trees and other sites will be
available on the foundation’s website. Just go to memorial.health/smf
and click on events. Maps will also be part of a Downtown
Springfield Inc. pamphlet, which can be picked up at local
businesses.
Nearly all of the events at the Memorial Holiday Fest will be free.
Streets will be closed on Saturdays during the Memorial Holiday
Fest. The boundaries are Washington Street to the north, Sixth
Street to the east, Monroe Street to the south and Fifth Street to
the west. In addition, the east-west Adams Street between Fifth and
Sixth streets will be closed.
Visits with Santa Claus will be held on the lawn of the Old State
Capitol. Santa will be available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., from 1:30
p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and from 4
p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. Parents are welcome to take their own
photos of their kids with Santa. Visits and photos will follow
social distancing and masking guidelines. Children visiting Santa
will receive a grab bag of prizes while they last.
The Gingerbread Village will be on display in the lobby of the
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, 212 N. Sixth St.
The museum will extend its hours of operation to 7 p.m. on the
Saturdays and Wednesdays of the Memorial Holiday Fest. On those
days, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., admission to the museum will be free
with a donation of personal care items, which will benefit the
Springfield Salvation Army Warming Center.
Families attending the Memorial Holiday Fest can pick up Polar
Passports for their children. When they visit four specific
destinations, they can receive a stamp on their passports. The four
locations are the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum,
the Old State Capitol, Kidzeum and the Illinois State Museum.
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With all four destinations stamped, children can turn their passports in at the
Hoogland Center for the Arts, 402 S. Sixth St., where they’ll be entered into a
drawing for free passes to the Kidzeum.
The Hoogland Teens will create a living window display at the Hoogland Center
for the Arts based on Disney’s Frozen. It will feature the beloved characters of
Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Sven the Reindeer and Kristoff. Times are 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and
4 p.m. Saturdays and 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Carolers will sing outside
the Hoogland for individuals dropping off their Polar Passports from the event.
Free carriage rides will be available from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and from 4
p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays. People can catch the rides at 1 North Old State
Capitol Plaza. Rides leave every 10 minutes. To adhere to COVID-19 safety
guidelines, only families of four or fewer members can ride together. Carriages
are cleaned after each ride.
A Warming Tree will be on display at the downtown YMCA, 701 S. Fourth St.,
decorated with scarves, hats and mittens. Families in need will be able to take
items from the tree. Another tree that you won’t want to miss is built by The
Springfield Art Association. It’s a tree made out of books and you can view it
at the Lincoln Library, 326 S. Seventh St.
Families can take their kids to several Holiday Fest activities in Kidzeum, 412
E. Adams St. The holiday fest activities are free with paid admission to Kidzeum.
Holiday decorations will festoon the courtyard. On the first floor, children can
make potholders adorned with their handprints. Times are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturdays and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Other arts and crafts will be
available. The Sock Skating Rink will be on the third floor of Kidzeum during
the same times.
Downtown Springfield Inc.’s (DSI’s) Old Capitol Holiday Walk is an opportunity
for people to visit the downtown and shop and eat in locally owned stores and
restaurants, which “pull out all the stops for the most magical time of the
year,” said Kayla Graves, DSI’s executive director.
Times are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Shoppers
can earn “red tickets” for purchases at downtown business, which they can enter
for a chance to win up to $1,000. Several stores will set up parklets offering
music.
Free parking will be available at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and
Museum, Horace Mann, the Hoogland Center for the Arts and downtown meters. Golf
carts will be on hand to assist people with mobility issues from 10 a.m. to 7
p.m. Saturdays. There will also be a shuttle that continuously circles the event
area from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays.
The Memorial Holiday Fest is able to offer nearly all of its activities for free
and raise funds for Springfield Memorial Foundation, thanks to the support of
its sponsors, Hansen Schmadeke said. “We’re all working together to make a
really wonderful event for families throughout central Illinois. The downtown
will be a great destination during the holidays, and people can also spend time
shopping at local businesses or grabbing a meal at one of our great downtown
restaurants,” she said.
PNC Bank is the Memorial Holiday Fest’s principal sponsor.
[Michael Leathers] |
