The small town of Helper comes alive during the Christmas season with the Annual Christmas Town Festival. This year will mark the 29th year for a pretty amazing holiday attraction that has become a tradition for many families in the Castle Country area.
The festival was set in motion with the annual Christmas Craft Fair on November 16 and November 17, which was a great way to start off Christmas shopping for many individuals. The beautiful Lights on Ceremony took place on November 23 which symbolizes the beginning of the Christmas season. The Luminary Memorial Ceremony was held on the evening of November 28 where guests were allowed to memorialize their loved ones for the holidays with the purchase of a luminary that was displayed around Helper’s Cemetery.
The two-day Electric Light Parade will be held on Friday, December 7 and Saturday, December 8 at 7:00 pm on Helper’s historic main street. “Both nights start out with a chili dinner, it’s also a fundraiser – good chili, we have kielbasa, hot dogs, you name it and it’s Friday and Saturday night, both nights starting at 4:00 pm to 7:00pm,” said an Event Organizer, Mark Montoya. The money raised from the evening’s dinner helps to support the yearly Christmas Festival activities. The host of Mornings with Mallery on KRPX 95.3 -The Peak will be announcing the parade each night in front of city hall with some fun and exciting giveaways.
There is still time to enter a float as Montoya explains, “I always tell everybody it really takes like one night to put a float together. You just have to make sure its got tons of lights on it. It doesn’t matter what it looks like during the day because nobody is really going to see it during the day as long as it’s lit up that’s all that matters.” The parade registration, along with line-up begins at 5:30 pm on Locust street and drivers will be required to stay with their floats at all times. The parade will begin at 7:00 pm both Friday and Saturday night with a beautiful firework display following the parade on Saturday night.
The yearly Breakfast with Santa event will be held on Saturday, December 8 from 8:00 am to 11:00 am at the Helper Civic Auditorium. The cost is $3.00 for children under the age of 11 and adults are $6.00. All proceeds raised from the breakfast will go towards the yearly Christmas Towne festivities.
To keep posted Christmas Town Festival find the schedule on their Facebook page.