by Jessica Buchholz, Events Coordinator | November 23, 2022
Your guide to some of the holiday events in Emporia!
Thanksgiving week snuck up on a lot of us, and after Thanksgiving we hit a stretch run of fun activities for everyone! Here is the synopsis:
Downtown Holiday Decorations, NOW- After a wind storm and over 25 years of use in the Kansas elements, the downtown holiday decorations were unusable. Thanks to a coordinated effort between Emporia Main Street, the City of Emporia, the Trusler Foundation in the Emporia Community Foundation, and local talent through Klumpe Blacksmithing in Olpe, all of the downtown holiday decorations have been refurbished. Downtown will be merry and bright this holiday season!
Small Business Saturday, THIS SATURDAY, November 26th- Small business Saturday was established by a partnership between Roslindale Village Main Street, American Express, the National Main Street Center, and the Mayor of Boston in 2010. Since then, Emporia Main Street has celebrated shopping small businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Participate in this year’s Elf Hunt for the chance to win some great prizes and pick up some Small Business Saturday swag. It is important to shop small all year long, but particularly on Small Business Saturday! For more information on the Elf Hunt, CLICK HERE!
Horse Drawn Carriage Rides, December 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd- From 5-8 p.m., Emporia Main Street will host the Horse Drawn Carriage Rides starting from the north side of our building at 8th and Commercial Street. We haven’t had the ability to host carriage rides for the last couple of years, so we are excited to bring this tradition back. ONE MAJOR CHANGE for this year; you will be able to reserve tickets online (CLICK HERE). For businesses, this is an important exposure event, and we have window lighting you can pick up in the Emporia Main Street office to help showcase your storefront. Grab the family and head downtown for an old fashioned horse drawn carriage ride!
Moonlight Madness, December 8th- The original downtown late night shopping event is back! Grab your friends, a passport, and make a night of shopping with local businesses, eating at local restaurants, and having fun with local entertainment! CLICK HERE for more information.
Start Your Own Business Class Graduation, December 8th- We had a great class of entrepreneurs for this year’s Start Your Own Business Class! Class members will graduate on December 8th at a ceremony in the Lyon County History Center. Some of this year’s graduates will pop up with businesses in the near future!
Quarter Mania, December 15th- Quarter Mania is one of our most requested activities from the public. This “bingo meets an auction” events showcases local items that you can win for as little as one quarter! CLICK HERE for more information on the upcoming Quarter Mania event!
That’s a lot of events in a short period of time, but at Emporia Main Street we often talk about the difference between “words” and “deeds”. We can talk about the importance of shopping local, but we would rather conduct activities that promote local shopping, enhance traffic, and make cash registers ring.
Happy Holidays from all of us at Emporia Main Street!