WinterFest kicks off holidays with a bang

WinterFest returned to downtown Aberdeen last weekend to an enthusiastic crowd of holiday shoppers and celebrating families.

More than 500 people attended the busy WinterFest Holiday Market at the D&R Theatre Event Center, according to Downtown Aberdeen Association board member Bobbi McCracken.

While attendance wasn’t taken at the door, the Association was able to sell all 500 of their raffle tickets for gift baskets. This is the first year that the Association has used a raffle to raise money, and they were able to track $2,500 in sales.

“We’ll put it back into our events, and hopefully we’ll be able to add more activities. It will also go towards the different drawings we do throughout the year, so ultimately it will all go back into the community,” said McCracken.

The Association gifted commemorative WinterFest tote bags to the first 250 attendees through the door at the Holiday Market. They were out of bags by 11:30 a.m., and a lot of the bags left the door full, according to McCracken.

“People are hungry to come out and do this kind of thing, we could’ve had more vendors but we were trying to be respectful of space. For those that were willing to come out, everybody had a great time,” she said.

WinterFest benefited more than just the vendors at the Holiday Market. Businesses downtown saw a surge of customers as more people were in the area on Saturday, Dec. 4. Some businesses volunteered their time and space for WinterFest activities.

Tom Sutera at Game Day Sports on I Street in downtown Aberdeen hosted about 270 people in the morning for Breakfast with Santa, where Rick Moyer from Moyer Multi Media LLC took over 500 free photos.

“It was really fun. Everybody seemed to be having a good time, there was a long line for pictures with Santa,” said Sutera. “We’re a family-friendly business and we encourage them to come in.”

Since relocating from his spot in the mall, Sutera has found that about one-third of his customers weren’t aware of his new location.

“It’s great to see people coming in again, and being able to expand our customer base.”

For McCracken and the Downtown Aberdeen Association, this is music to their ears.

“That’s really encouraging for us, because that’s what Downtown Aberdeen Association is supposed to do–so that’s a win for us,” said McCracken.

Other businesses in Aberdeen participated through the Business Gingerbread House Challenge, which raises money for charity each year as the public donates to their favorite entries. This year the challenge raised over $1,000.

McCracken and her fellow WinterFest coordinators will be taking a well-deserved break before jumping into SummerFest planning in February 2022. In the meantime, she is already looking forward to next year’s festivities.

“Every vendor I spoke to was excited, they’re all planning on coming next year. We try to add a new twist to the event every year,” she said.