JERSEYVILLE - Jerseyville’s tenth annual Downtown Country Christmas Festival promises a fun day for families this weekend.
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On Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, kids of all ages and their loved ones can come out to City Center Park in Jerseyville. The festivities kick off at 1 p.m., and Santa Claus will be arriving by helicopter at 1:30 p.m. Kids can enjoy a movie, bounce houses, activities and Elf School, all for free. The event will conclude with a City of Jerseyville tree lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. and a parade to Dolan Park at 5:30 p.m.
“It’s going to be great,” said organizer Michael Ward. “Honestly, it’s good to see everybody enjoying themselves and getting out in Jerseyville. There’s a lot going on that day.”
Ward said that the Downtown Country Christmas Festival is often compared to a Hallmark movie. The entire community comes out to kick off the holiday season.
The Stadium Theater will be showing “The Polar Express” for free at 11 a.m. Starting at 1 p.m., kids can enjoy several activities, including new inflatables and games. Guardians are asked to stop by the check-in table to sign a waiver before their kids begin playing.
“Our volunteers revamped everything,” Ward said. “We have brand new inflatables. Nothing really stayed the same. We kept a few of the interactive games that the kids really enjoyed, but they’ve added a couple of Grinch-themed items and some smaller hands-on games for kids. It’s really going to be an enjoyable day. I think there’s over 25 different options for kids to enjoy while they’re there.”
All of the activities are completely free. Ward noted that community support makes this possible, including the many sponsors who came forward this year.
The Downtown Country Christmas Festival is the biggest event in Jerseyville outside of the Jersey County Fair, and hundreds of people flock to Jerseyville to experience it. Last year, Jerseyville welcomed 4,500 visitors for a total of roughly 8,000 attendees.
In addition to the fun of the festival, the day is also a great experience for downtown Jerseyville businesses, which see a boost in sales.
“Our business owners love this weekend,” Ward explained. “They say they see a dramatic uptick in sales, and we hope that they do that again this year. It is Small Business Saturday, and that was one of the main reasons this day was chosen way back when.”
The evening will culminate in the tree lighting ceremony at 5 p.m., when a 22-foot Christmas tree will be lit by the Jersey County Fair queens. There will then be a parade through town to Dolan Park, where people can enjoy the Bright Nights lights display with several new lights displays added this year.
The Bright Nights drive-thru display is open from 5:30 to 11 p.m. every night starting on Nov. 30. This year’s festival theme is “A Walk Down Memory Lane,” and there will be photos of previous Downtown Country Christmas celebrations hanging up in Dolan Park.
Though Ward will be stepping back from the Downtown Country Christmas Festival after this year, he shared that he has greatly enjoyed his time on the board and looks forward to seeing the festival expand in future years. He added that donations and sponsorships are needed, as the goal of the festival is to provide a fun, free experience for Jerseyville youth and visitors.
“We function on donations, so there are donation boxes out there and we really do appreciate people kind of supporting us, because we use that money every year to make sure that this is a free event for children,” he added. “That was the goal from the beginning. It was a way for the business community and the families in the area to connect, and they still do that because their support allows us to get the blow-ups and buy the prizes. When a child comes to the festival, they don’t have to spend a dime.”
For more information about Jerseyville’s Downtown Country Christmas Festival, visit their official website at DowntownCountryChristmas.com or the official Facebook page.
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