Christmas Crawl begins Dec. 4 in Tillsonburg
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This year’s Downtown Tillsonburg BIA Christmas Crawl will have a new look.
Organizers have made some changes to make the event COVID-19 policy friendly, and it will be extended over a two-week period Dec. 4-20 rather than one night.
“Christmas Crawl is going to be a bit different this year,” said Karlee Slattery, Downtown Tillsonburg BIA Events & Marketing co-ordinator.
The traditional Christmas Crawl starts the holiday season in the downtown core, using a ‘stamp passport’ to encourage people to shop local.
“We wanted to change it up a bit this year, making sure we’re still going back to the main goal of getting Tillsonburg and area people to come downtown – safely – and supporting these BIA members. So we’re excited to do a two-week event, Dec. 4 to 20.”
All of the participating businesses will have copies of the Christmas Crawl passport. Some of those businesses include Betty’s Consignment, Trinkets, Roka Billiards, Verne’s Carpet One, Sew-u-can, Special Occasion Cakes, The Copper Mug, Station Arts Centre, Escapes Salon & Spa, Canadian Shoe Outlet, Coward Pharmacy, Tranquility Spa & Salon, and Sangster’s Tillsonburg. More will be added to the passports, which will also be available at the BIA office at 20 Oxford St. Check downtowntillsonburg.com for the latest updates on the Christmas Crawl and participating businesses.
Dec. 2 was set as the deadline for merchants to notify the BIA that they would be participating and be included in the passport booklet.
This year to get a stamp from a business on your passport, you have to make a purchase. The passport will identify the number of stamps required to be eligible for prizes.
“This is our way of encouraging people to not just run in, get a stamp and run out like we’ve seen in the past, but to see people going in and really seeing what local shops and restaurants are offering, and making purchases,” said Slattery.
It could be a gift card, it could be a coffee, or something from your Christmas shopping list.
“The extension to two weeks will be advantageous for people this year,” said Mark Renaud, BIA executive director. “And it’s a benefit to our merchants that people will be buying something and participating that way to help us really focus on our shopping local campaign.
“I think just the fact that we are doing it is remarkable in itself,” said Renaud, “because, other than pop-up patios and Turtlefest, the Christmas Crawl is one of the most sought after things … so there was a demand for this.”
A start for the event will be held Dec. 4, around 6 p.m., when participating business and their cohorts will step out to the sidewalks and light battery-powered candles together.
When you have the required number of stamps on your passport, you can drop it off at the BIA office before Dec. 20 at 5 p.m. for a chance to win “awesome downtown Tillsonburg gift basket/prizes” that have been generously donated by BIA members.
“Or they can send in a photo digitally because we know it’s a bit different this year,” said Slattery.
cabbott@postmedia.com
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