Atlanta brings Christmas in July to the heart of the city on a hot weekend
 

[July 26, 2022]    The month of July has been consistently hot this year. With temperatures and heat indices soaring, it was an ironically perfect time to celebrate Christmas, Christmas in July that is.

The city of Atlanta Tourism took advantage of that irony on Saturday and Sunday to bring a street market to the community with a Christmas in July theme.



Atlanta Tourism Director Whitney Ortiz was not all that put off by the heat. Though the temperature at the 10 a.m. hour was exceeding 90 degrees and the heat index for the day was forecast to be at or above 105 degrees, Ortiz said she had a better turn out of vendors than last year, and she was happy with how it was all going.

Vendors were lining both sides of the main street through Atlanta, filling the park on the north end of the street, and taking up spaces inside Union Hall where shoppers could escape the heat for a few minutes and still enjoy the shopping.

At the south end of the street, the Route 66 Park was decorated for Christmas and guests could stroll through the shady park and enjoy the decorations while amplifying their own Christmas in July spirit.

Speaking of getting into the spirit. One couple was seen throughout the market area all decked out in their holiday attire.

They said that celebrating Christmas in July is something the couple does every year. They don their special outfits and head out to do some shopping while enjoying the attention they draw with their unique costumes.



Among the vendors this year there were a large number of people selling clothing and those places were drawing a lot of shopper attention. In addition, the Cheesed Out food truck and Traveling Top Hat were on hand selling their specialty treats including fried cheese from the first truck, and holiday flavored ice cream from the latter.



It seemed though, that the most popular stop in Atlanta was just a block on down the road from the market area. The Sip Shack was busy throughout the day selling beverages to thirsty customers. The business was so busy that for the better part of the morning on Saturday, there was a line of cars around the block with customers anxiously awaiting their turn at the drive-thru window.
 

The Christmas in July event was held on Saturday and Sunday in downtown Atlanta. It was the final event in Atlanta for July, but there are a number of events in the works for the month of August, all providing new opportunities for visitors to explore the historic community and discover more about it and its strong historical connection to the Route 66 Mother Road.

[Nila Smith]