ESTEVAN — The second edition of the Estevan Downtown Business Association's kick-off to Christmas is approaching fast.
Miracle on Fourth Street is slated to take place Dec. 10 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. in the 1100 and 1200 blocks of Fourth Street.
The day will feature many great deals from downtown businesses, as well as Christmas activities and entertainment. Guests will be invited to enjoy free hot chocolate all day long and free hot dogs from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., provided by the Lions Club of Estevan; crafts and activities with the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; hayrides by Graham Collie and family from 1-4 p.m., sponsored by Henders Drugs; street hockey with Estevan Bruins; visits with Santa Claus; and two free matinees at the Orpheum Theatre, sponsored by Jenny Joans, A&A Jewellery and Jewels & Jems Furniture Redesigns. The Star starts at noon and How the Grinch Stole Christmas is at 3 p.m.
Robert Godfrey with Lemon Wedge Marketing, which is a part of the DBA and helped organize the event, said the preparations are well underway and they are excited about the upcoming fun community event.
"Things are coming together fantastic," Godfrey said. "We're really excited with the lineup of events and activities that we're going to have for Miracle on Fourth Street. All of the Downtown Business Association members are getting ready with promotions and deals that they're going to be running. It's going to be a really fun day for people of all ages."
Miracle on Fourth is a successor to Moonlight Madness, Estevan downtown's long-time Christmas event. Godfrey said last year they switched the format to make it more inclusive and fun for everyone.
"For many years, the Downtown Business Association always kicked off Christmas with Moonlight Madness, which was a great event for years. But we, as an association, wanted to do something bigger, we wanted to be able to include as many Downtown Business Association members along with … local families. Moonlight Madness was great, but it was usually a later evening, and so the businesses had to accommodate different hours, and people had to try to come out on a weekday evening to take part in the event," Godfrey explained.
"[With Miracle on Fourth], it's on a Saturday during the daytime when the businesses are already open and for the public to come out, it's at a really convenient time from 10 until 4 p.m."
The first Miracle on Fourth was a success, with a lot of positive feedback, and the association decided to continue with this format.
"Everyone loved the opportunity to come out and enjoy a beautiful day downtown. The kids loved all the activities. The families loved being able to take part in the activities as well. And then for our business association members, it was an outstanding day. Businesses had a lot of traffic come through the doors, and people had a great opportunity to do their Christmas shopping," Godfrey shared.
"And one of the really incredible things that we heard quite a bit last year is there were a lot of people that came out and they ended up going into and shopping at stores downtown that they have never been to before. They didn't even realize the things that they could get in downtown Estevan.
“And it was all thanks to this event that the Downtown Business Association put on that these people came out and got to see everything that downtown has to offer."
Godfrey thanked all the organizations and businesses that help put Miracle on Fourth on.
This year, for the time of the event, the 1200-block of Fourth Street will be completely closed, and the 1100-block will be closed up to the Tower Café parking lot.
