By The Public Communications Office
In this episode of “What’s Up, College Station?” Marketing Coordinator Grace Hallowell and Visit College Station Events Coordinator Casey Barone discuss the city’s annual Christmas in College Station campaign and the full schedule of festive activities.
Transcript
Grace Hallowell:
What’s up, College Station? I’m Grace Hallowell. And today, I’m joined with Casey Barone, our events coordinator over at Visit College Station. Hi, Casey.
Casey Barone:
Hi, Grace.
Grace Hallowell:
I’m so excited you’re here. We are transitioning from pumpkin spice into the peppermint mocha, Christmastime holiday stuff happening. And you’re here to talk about Christmas in College Station.
Casey Barone:
Yes, Christmas in College Station, this is one of our campaigns that we do that we really look forward to all year around. We plan. We start planning in March for Christmas in College Station, so we’re really excited that we’re finally here and able to start working on what we’ve been working for.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, it is I know much anticipated every year with the returning events, and there’s some new ones this year as well. So let’s start with what’s going on for Christmas in College Station this year.
Casey Barone:
Yeah. So Christmas in College Station, first off, we have a website, Christmasincs.com. And this is really your hub for everything going on in College Station, so check out our website for those events. We have about 20 right now, and then of course, we’re always adding to those. So if you’re ever wondering what’s happening in College Station during the Christmastime, that’s where you want to go.
Grace Hallowell:
Right. It’s very, very useful.
Casey Barone:
Yes.
Grace Hallowell:
And we are kicking things off soon, this weekend.
Casey Barone:
Yeah. So we start this weekend, it’s Kickoff to Christmas. And it coincides with the opening weekend for Santa’s Wonderland opening up. They open on Friday of this week. So we start with Kickoff to Christmas at Aggieland Outfitters. We’ll have about 15 vendors out there and food trucks. And we partner with Aggieland Outfitters, so that you can shop some of these vendors, shop Aggieland Outfitters, grab a bite to eat, and then just start marking off some of that to do list that we all have for the Christmastime.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, get a headstart.
Casey Barone:
Yes.
Grace Hallowell:
And with that event, the Christmas ornaments that happen that you guys release every year, that will be there as well.
Casey Barone:
Yes. I’m not sure if it’ll be there on Sunday, but we do partner with Aggieland Outfitters, and they’re on their way here.
Grace Hallowell:
Right.
Casey Barone:
So hopefully, they’ll be here soon. But this is something we’ve done with Aggieland Outfitters for the … This is the third year now. And it kind of goes with our Christmas in College Station theme, and so we design an ornament. We partner with them. And you can shop Aggieland Outfitters stores to pick that up or go to their website to order it. And they will also be at some of the Christmas events like the … Sorry. They will be at Christmas at the Park and Howdy Holly-Days in Artisan Market.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. I know it’s a highly sought after item that people add to their collection year to year.
Casey Barone:
Yes.
Grace Hallowell:
So what other events are going on?
Casey Barone:
So we have Kickoff to Christmas this weekend from 11:00 to 3:00. And then we have Christmas at the Park, and this is something we’re really excited about because it goes with the parade that’s happening, our first parade. So the lights are on, they start November 23rd, but the Lights On event is Friday, December 1st and Saturday, December 2nd, along with that Christmas in College Station parade. And we have the parade starts at 3:30 and ends with the arrival of Santa around 5:30. Parking’s available at Post Oak Mall, Wolf Pen Creek, Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater, also, I think the police department, municipal courts, those areas. And the parade goes along Holleman near Post Oak Mall, down Dartmouth, and continue onto Krenek Tap Road, ending at Central Park there.
Grace Hallowell:
Right. And there is a shuttle from the mall to the park for Christmas in the Park.
Casey Barone:
Yes. Yes, there is, so that’s really nice. You can hopefully not have to worry about traffic and where to go and that sort of thing. And then once the parade ends, we get to start the event that I know Parks has really worked really hard to do, as well as city of College Station as a whole, in getting that parade started.
Grace Hallowell:
Yeah. Especially with all of the lights, they’ve been working very long hours, getting all of those lights up there for months now it seems.
Casey Barone:
I know. They do an amazing job every year. They work so hard. And I also think it’s really cool, they have that Jingle Bell Fun Run also after that. That starts at 6:00, so people can run around the park and see the lights. I think that’s really cool that they can do that.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, it’s a very fun way to exercise. Right? So with Santa’s Wonderland, I know you guys partner with them each year. It seems like they’re growing.
Casey Barone:
Yes.
Grace Hallowell:
And each year, there’s something new there as well.
Casey Barone:
Yeah. So Santa’s Wonderland is amazing, as we all know. I like to drive by there at night. It’s on my way home, and I just take a look at all the lights. They’re so beautiful. They have millions of lights along their 130 plus acres. And so it’s such a unique thing that we have here in College Station, so we want to just kind of partner with that and have our own events, and kind of with these visitors that come in, because we have thousands and thousands of visitors every Christmas season. And so what can we do to make them stay a little bit longer and have these events like Kickoff to Christmas, Christmas in the Park, and other stuff?
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. And back to shopping, you have a bunch of different markets coming up as well.
Casey Barone:
Yes. So another one that we have that we’re really excited about, it’s kind of our big thing at Visit College Station, is Howdy Holly-Days. That’s at Northgate on Saturday, December 9th from 4:00 to 8:00. And we have 60 plus vendors out there.
Grace Hallowell:
Wow.
Casey Barone:
They have all kinds of stuff, whether it be food, quilts, charcuterie boards, crocheting, anything you can imagine, people are out there, jewelry making, all kinds of stuff. So that one’s really fun, it’s a great family friendly event. We’ll have bounce houses and snow, face painting, balloon making, Santa will be at the Dixie Chicken. And we also get the establishments around Northgate involved so that they can have some sort of deals and some sort of fun interaction with them as well.
Grace Hallowell:
Right. And it’s a fun way to experience Northgate in the daytime.
Casey Barone:
Yes. And it’ll be dark, starting to get dark during the middle of that event, and Northgate is all lit up. We light it up for Christmas that stays throughout the season. But it’s amazing to see Northgate in a different light, so to speak.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. Well, anything else you can share with us about Christmas in College Station?
Casey Barone:
Yeah, so another event we have is our Holiday Artisan Market. That is at Century Square on Saturday, December 16th from 11:00 to 3:00. We’ll have about 24 vendors out there. And then of course, Century Square has their shopping places that you can shop from and eat and that sort of thing.
Grace Hallowell:
So there are many opportunities to get your Christmas shopping done.
Casey Barone:
Yes, yes. And it’s kind of unique ways too, that you can maybe go to these markets and get something different. You don’t have to go to the same shops everybody else is going. Go and find unique gifts for people.
Grace Hallowell:
Right, and support local artisans.
Casey Barone:
Yes, yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Grace Hallowell:
I know there’s a lot here. So again, the website, what is that, where people can kind of look at the list and put it on their calender?
Casey Barone:
That is christmasincs.com. And you can also submit your own events too. So if you have an event going on that’s not on there just yet, go in there, submit your event, and we’ll go in and approve it. And it’ll be on our website, so that’s really important to know about as well. And then one other thing that we’re doing this year, we are starting at Aggieland Express holiday deals pass. And this is, it launches this weekend, and the purpose of it is to explore College Station and the festivities around town, along with maybe grabbing a festive drink of some sort from an establishment that is participating. So that will also go on our website this weekend. I think it’s going to go live on Friday. And you can get this pass, check in at the events. There’ll be a point based system there. And you can accrue these points, and then you can get merchandise from our Visit College Station Visitors’ Center that we have selected on there. And all of that is on that pass itself. And that is for visitors and for residents as well.
Grace Hallowell:
Right. It’s a really good opportunity, especially if you’re a resident and you have family coming into town, get some gifts, get some drinks, have a good time, explore everything that we have to offer here.
Casey Barone:
Yes. Yeah, it’s a great way to showcase College Station and really get the full Christmas in College Station experience.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, a very magical experience.
Casey Barone:
Yes.
Grace Hallowell:
Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Casey.
Casey Barone:
Thank you, Grace.
Grace Hallowell:
And that’s what’s up.
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