Tallahassee Winter Festival helps small businesses through holiday tradition

• Thousands of neighbors came out for Tallahassee’s 38th annual Winter Festival.
• The crowd gave local businesses extra exposure and revenue they depend on during the holidays.
• Watch the video to hear from neighbors and local businesses about the festival’s impact on the community.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Honoring tradition and boosting our local economy. I’m Kenya Cardonne in the Downtown Tallahassee neighborhood where this year’s Winter Festival brought out thousands of neighbors, something local businesses I spoke with say brought in the extra money and exposure they depend on during the holidays.

Ashante, Owner of Sugarbox Bake Shop – “We are a family-owned business, and we make sweet treats.”

Sugarbox Bake Shop was one of several vendors that lined up the streets in Downtown Tallahassee on Saturday.

Tallahassee’s Annual Winter Festival is known to draw in quite the crowd, which is the jackpot for small businesses like Sugarbox. 

Ashante – “We’re just hoping to gain more exposure and hopefully people can really get to try out our ‘Croffles.’”

The thousands of neighbors packing the streets is a kind of exposure they say doesn’t compare to the pop-up shops and social media outreach they typically rely on for income.

Beyond boosting our local economy, neighbors spent the day doing Winter Festival activities that keep many of them coming back year after year.

Crystal Anderson, Neighbor – “It’s just great for everyone in the community to be able to come together.”

For the Andersons, it’s been a holiday tradition since way before their little ones came along. 

Anderson – “Well, my husband and I started coming when we were in school, and then now that we have these guys, we come back to see Santa and go down Candy Cane Lane and we’re doing the Jingle Bell run this year, and it’s just a fun way to kick off the Christmas season.”

The city’s next big holiday event is the Holiday Stroll through Cascades Park on Sunday, December 15th.

In Downtown Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne ABC 27