REXBURG — The Rexburg tree festival began Thursday night with the theme ‘Past, present, and future.’
It is a family-friendly event that will have many activities for all ages. Proceeds will be donated to the Family Crisis Center.
“This is the very first year for the tree festival,” said Jackie Rawlins, director, and curator of the cultural arts in Rexburg. “The focus the city council and the mayor gave me was trying to help facilitate events throughout the year that bring the community together. When discussing it with my board, we felt that there was a need for some kind of community event that would also focus on charity in the community.”
The tree festival will run Friday from 5-8 p.m and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
“There will be many things for the family to do,” Rawlins said. “There will be a photo spot where people can dress up and take selfies. There will be entertainment off and on through those hours. We will have heaters outside and a fire pit so people can enjoy the winter weather and still stay a little warm. We will also have our own little polar express.”
Madison Memorial Hospital will be sponsoring the Rexburg Polar express. The train will begin at the Tabernacle and travel up the street to the hospital. At the hospital, there will be a hot chocolate bar and Santa’s Workshop where children can stop and sit on Santa’s lap. Then the train will take everyone back to the Tabernacle to enjoy the rest of the night.
“We feel, for our first year, we have had a very good response,” said Terri Hill, human resources director. “We were hoping to have at least five trees and we received eight.”
Hill said there will be about five different vendors. One vendor will be selling freshly cut Christmas trees that can be purchased. There will be a few food trucks. Hill said she thinks it will be a special event for the whole family.
“I have actually helped with the tree festival in Idaho Falls,” Hill said. “It’s been a dear passion of mine, helping develop that workshop with their festival for the last several years. It is something that can bring the community together as well as give back to the community. We will be choosing a different charity each year. We want this to be a signature event that our community looks forward to each year.”
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