Christmas Fest 2023
Press Release
Release: Immediate
Date: 11/17/23
Contact: Misty Richardson
Re: Christmas Fest 2023
Christmas Fest 2023
Toccoa, GA – Main Street Toccoa will be hosting the 16 th annual Christmas Fest on Friday, December 1st from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Once again it will be a night filled with magic, music and lights for the whole family.
The Lighting of the Tree will be at 6:00 pm on Sage St with Mayor David Austin counting down to the lighting of the tree and the lighting of the entire Courthouse Wonderland. Leading up to the countdown, dancers from The Dance Studio will perform around 5:15pm. Toccoa Jazz will be there to start off the music for the evening from 6:00 – 7:00. From 7:00 – 8:00, the community group The Toccoa Carolers will sing and encourage everyone to join in. Then at 8:00, the popular Tugaloo Holler will perform Christmas bluegrass music until 9:00.
The sights and sounds of Christmas will be heard and seen throughout the downtown. Carriage rides will begin at Alexander St. and Doyle St. Rides will be $3 for adults and $1 for children. Riders will select a time to ride, and carriage rides will end at 8pm. Santa’s Express train will begin at the corner of Doyle St and Pond St. near Oconee Federal Bank. Fees will also be $3 for adults and $1 for children. The Polar Express Train will take it’s riders around the entire festival starting at the corner of Doyle St. and Pond St. Children will be delighted to visit with Santa and tell him what they want for Christmas. In remembrance of the first Christmas, there will be a live nativity with live animals for the children to pet in the greenspace at Doyle St. and Alexander St. First Alliance Church will sponsor the nativity. Other sights are the train at BEN Park across from Troup’s Studio and Gifts and the Gingerbread House on Doyle St in front of the courthouse stairs.
Also, that night, there will be food trucks and food booths as well as Christmas Sage Market featuring more than 30 craft vendors and the Festival of Trees. The Festival of Trees will be held in Thacker Hall at 59 W Doyle St. and have beautiful trees decorated to help raise funds for local non-profits. Funds are
raised by voting on your favorite tree. Each vote will be $1 and the tree with the most votes will win $500 for that non-profit. Strolling through the streets and in the stores will be a quartet of Victorian Carolers from First Presbyterian Church adding to the beauty of the evening.
For the adventurous, Toccoa on Ice will provide an opportunity to try out ice skating. The fee is $5 per person. The ice skating rink will open at 5:00 p.m. For more information go to www.mainstreettoccoa.com or call Misty Richardson at 706-282-3309.
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