The holiday season is in full swing, and the celebrations are underway in Evanston. Across the city, neighborhoods, religious organizations and businesses are continuing old holiday traditions and starting new ones, making it a December to remember.
On November 29th, a snowy day that looked straight out of a Christmas movie, the Downtown Evanston and Main-Dempster Mile business districts kicked off their festivities with Small Business Saturday.
“Small Business Saturday is all about supporting our locally owned and independent businesses and encouraging folks to shop there, rather than doing it online or from some big box store,” explained Downtown Evanston Executive Director Andy Vick.
The celebration continued on December 6th with the flagship event of the season, the Holiday Light Celebration in Fountain Square. Mayor Daniel Biss was in attendance as the trees were illuminated, performers sang, and Santa and Mrs. Claus took pictures with attendees. The trees and lights of Fountain Square create a sense of holiday spirit downtown that can’t be missed, and this spirit has cemented the ceremony as an Evanston tradition.
“I think Evanstonians come out for the events, for a sense of community, and as a way to celebrate the holidays with friends and family,” stated Vick.
More lights will be coming to Fountain Square soon. On December 16th, Chabad of Evanston will be hosting a Chanukah Menorah Lighting. Mayor Biss will also be in attendance at this event, which will feature musical performances and a new 15-foot menorah.
The celebrations aren’t exclusive to downtown either. On December 12th, the Main-Dempster Mile will host its Holiday Shop and Sing, featuring carolers whose voices will carry down Main Street as people shop. On December 20th, the Mile will host a holiday shopping day on Dempster Street, complete with fire pits and hot chocolate. Both of these events are new additions to the holiday calendar, creating new traditions in Evanston.
“What we usually had was one big holiday event early in December, but what we’ve discovered over the past year or two is that people’s shopping behavior for the holidays is being pushed either early or late, and so we decided we were going to take advantage of this late shopping push,” said Main-Dempster Mile Executive Director Kathrine Gotsick. “We’re kind of trying to move things toward the end of the month to capture a group shopping vibe.”
The holiday season is also considered to be the season of giving, and many events are centered around giving back to the community. The Warm Bevvy Walk, an event where warm beverages were handed out as people shopped downtown on December 11th, donated half of every $10 ticket to the Rotary Club. When the CTA Holiday Train passes through Evanston on the Purple Line, a community fridge donation drive will be hosted outside the Main Station on the 17th and the Dempster Station on the 19th.
“We’ll be giving people candy canes and gold coins and such, and we’ll be encouraging them to either drop off food or donate to the community fridges while they’re there,” mentioned Gotsick.
The holidays are a time of joy, lights, family, friends, and celebration, especially in Evanston. The events held over the course of the holiday season represent what this time is all about, and this is why Evanstonians continue to celebrate the season locally.
“There are some people who come out to our events every year, and they wear reindeer headbands and holiday necklaces; they are holiday people,” said Gotsick. “It’s really a fun, quirky bunch of people who are willing to pop out the door, support local and have fun doing it, and if other people want to join us, I think they’ll have a really good time.”
