By GARRETT SAGER
Hays Post
Frost Fest, the annual downtown celebration to kick off the Christmas season, will be Saturday and Sunday with a tree lighting, illuminated parade and a weekend of shopping deals.
The annual tree lighting event will be at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Union Pacific Station, 10th and Main, with carriage rides available starting at 5 p.m.
Mr. and Mrs. Claus will arrive at 5:45 p.m. by carriage, according to Sara Bloom, executive director of Downtown Hays Development Corp.
Mayor Shaun Musil will speak at 6 p.m. with the lighting of the tree to follow.
Breathe Coffee House will supply free hot chocolate and coffee to those in attendance all night.
Sunday is the highly anticipated illuminated parade, which is a huge celebration for the city of Hays and northwest Kansas. The parade itself has been featured several magazines, Bloom said.
The parade will start at 6 p.m. and has 45 different entries.
“It’s a good-sized parade with lots of animal entries, businesses, school, religious groups. You name it, we have lots of different entries,” Bloom said.
Several downtown businesses will be selling items such as coffee, hot chocolate, and hand crafted items during the parade.
The city of Hays announced Main Street will begin to be shut down at noon, requesting residents to mind the cones for safety purposes.
Held in conjunction with Frost Fest this year is Christmas Gifts on the Bricks, which is an event to encourage people to shop local.
“Whenever we can promote shopping local and shopping downtown, we do it. So we are going to utilize the mass of people that come in for Frost Fest to say thank you for coming in,” Bloom said.
Seventeen downtown businesses will participate in the Christmas Gifts on the Bricks. To see a full list of the participants, visit the Bricks in Downtown Hays Facebook page.
According to Bloom, when shoppers spend $100 or more at any of the participating businesses, they will receive $25 in Brick Bucks to spend at another qualifying business.
“You can get a lot of your Christmas shopping done in downtown Hays this way,” Bloom said.
Click HERE for more information on Frost Fest and downtown Hays.