With winter approaching, downtown Madison will hold a six week festival called Shine On Madison presented by Don’s Home Furniture — running from Nov. 19 to Jan. 9. The event is put on by Madison’s Central Business Improvement District (BID) and includes family friendly and community building events throughout the holiday season.
The downtown area will be dawned with seasonal light displays. Light display shows will kick off the festivities in mid November at 6:08 p.m. with appearances from Santa and Mrs.Claus. Many downtown businesses also will be open late with shopping specials. It will be held at the intersection of E. Washington Ave. and Capitol Square.
“Shine on Madison is our kickoff to six weeks of celebrating our community,” BID Executive Director Tiffany Kenney explained. “We celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas and all the end-of-year holidays as we come together in the darkest part of the year to shine a light on all that we have done and will do together as a city.”
Various community planter partners have come together throughout downtown Madison to decorate and create displays to promote the holiday spirit. During this time, there will be a retail window decorating contest from Nov. 19 to Dec. 18 where community members can cast their ballots at the Downtown Visitors Center to vote on the best display. The locations of these festivities and spectacles can be found on the event’s interactive virtual map.
“In addition to celebrating our community, this time of year is the busiest and most important economically for our small business owners. Our retail shops are bursting with great local gifts and our restaurants are eager to you —whether in large groups and special gatherings.” Kennedy stated.
On Nov. 17, Nov. 25 and Nov. 26, promotions in various stores along with special events such as carolers, shopping trolleys and a holiday market bag giveaway will be held in downtown Madison.The market bag giveaway will have 1000 gift bags that traditionally contain items from over 20 different stores.
