Christmas in the Village: Parade to kick off month of Christmas-related events in downtown Zionsville

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A Zionsville holiday favorite returns Nov. 30 to kick off a month of celebration. Christmas in the Village begins at 5 p.m. with a parade through the Village, and several other events will follow throughout December.

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Kristi Lee was the emcee with Santa to start the countdown for the tree lighting. (Submitted photos)

“We kick off the season with our parade and Christmas tree lighting on the 30th,” Zionsville Chamber of Commerce Event Manager Rachel Vining said. “We also have live entertainment, a s’mores station, barrel train rides after the parade and pictures with Santa.” 

Trolley rides begin at 4 p.m., and travel from Lions Park through the downtown up to Boone Village and back to Lions Park. The trolley allows parade attendees to park in those lots and  arrive closer to the downtown destination.

Other organizations are participating in Christmas in the Village as well. The Zionsville Kiwanis Club will serve s’mores at the Nov. 30 event. The Kiwanians also will collect socks to assist the Zionsville West Middle School Aeries-Builders Club with its collection of socks for homeless people. The students have set a goal of 300 pairs of new socks. Tube and crew socks are preferred, but all donations, including adult and childrens’ sizes, will be accepted. All socks must be new.

Sock collecting and s’mores will be from 4 to 8 p.m. at the parking lot at the corner of Pine and Main streets. Marshmallow roasting and sock collecting will begin at 4 p.m. and continue until 8 p.m. in the parking lot at the corner of Pine and Main.

The parade and tree lighting, however, are only the start of the month-long celebration. The Zionsville Chamber of Commerce will conduct several more events in the weeks after Nov. 30.

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The parade to kick off Christmas in the Village will be at 5 p.m. Nov. 30.

“Throughout the month, we’ve got three more events that will happen,” Vining said.

Dec. 12 is a ladies’ night out. Most of the businesses on Main Street participate with pop-up events from 6 to 9 p.m.

“They will have experiences for people. Sometime, its drinks, makeovers, manicures, lots of different things,” Vining said.

Participation is free. Services and other items will be available for purchase.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 14, the chamber will conduct the Snowflake Seek and Find.

“Families come down to the brick street and Boone Village, and they’ll get a card that gives them clues about businesses that have a snowflake search. Once they find at least 10 snowflakes, they go to zWORKS and receive a complimentary cookie for decorating,” Vining said.

The chamber is still compiling its list of participating shops. Vining encourages residents to visit the chamber’s social media platforms for information and updates.

A Christmas Crawl will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 19, and it will provide the opportunity for 21-and-older residents to complete a “crawl” through the restaurants and bars downtown Zionsville.

“They’ll have special holiday drinks, beverages to purchase,” Vining said. “There’s no cost for the crawl itself, but you do buy beverages as you go.”

In the past, the final location has always been Rush on Main, but this year there are three ending spots.

“At any of those ending locations, they have prizes you can enter for,” Vining said.

The ending locations are Bubs Burgers, Rush on Main and Greek’s Pizzeria.

Some non-restaurant businesses on Main Street also are participating. They will offer wines and drinks for shoppers.

“I know for sure there are businesses offering non-alcoholic options as well for people who just want to come and be festive and don’t want to partake,” Vining said.

NEW AND RETURNING OFFERINGS

The main Christmas in the Village events are all returning from past years, but a new attraction is Santa on the Move. Traditionally, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays Santa has been available for photos at the Santa house near the tree in the Village at Main and Cedar streets. This year, on Dec. 14 and Dec. 21, Santa will be in a secret location from 11 a.m. to noon. Clues will be revealed closer to those dates. Santa’s last day is Dec. 22.

A horse-drawn wagon will be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday in December, and complimentary rides will be offered. The wagons are located at the intersection of Main and Cedar streets


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