Holiday shopping events to visit across Des Moines this fall include Jingle in the Junction
It's time to bundle up and venture out to holiday markets.
With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away and Christmas around the corner, holiday shopping events, fundraisers and tree lightings are starting. Here are nine events to get you in the holiday mood.
Festival of Trees & Lights
Every year, the Festival of Trees & Lights at the Iowa Events Center benefits Blank Children’s Hospital, with dozens of decorated trees, entertainment and stories of children cared for at the hospital. Since its creation 40 years ago, the event has raised more than $13 million for Blank Children's Hospital.
The Festival of Trees & Lights is Blank Children's Hospital's most important fundraiser and will raise more than $1 million this year, said Janet Fisher, Blank Children's Hospital senior director of development.
Proceeds will benefit the hospital's Center for Advocacy & Outreach, which educates children through injury prevention programs and services. Blank Children's Hospital provides care for children from all 99 counties.
"We're really grateful for our community rallying behind us," Fisher said. "There's so many families that have been touched in some sort of way whether you fall and need stitches or some sort of cancer diagnosis. We really support it all."
Some of the trees are donated, some decorators keep their trees and sponsors who donate more than $1,000 get to pick a tree, said Liz Tesar, director of development and communications for UnityPoint Health's Des Moines Foundation.
"I think it's really great because a lot of people choose to donate their tree back to the hospital on the Blank floor or a Blank patient family or to nonprofit organizations throughout the community," Tesar said. "So the journey of the tree is very fun."
Among other things, Blank Children's Hospital provides support for pregnant mothers with high-risk pregnancies and its neonatal intensive care unit can provide medical services for children who are born as early as 22 weeks into pregnancies.
Long before that Fisher started her job in May, she saw the benefits of donations to Blank Children's Hospital first hand. About 25 years ago Fisher's son spent 80 days in the neonatal intensive care unit at Blank Children's Hospital. He died at age 13.
Her son had significant disabilities throughout his life, but the Blank community and staff made everything easier by supporting her family, Fisher said.
"This is a place where the children are loved and cared for and the family unit is supported through and through," Fisher said. "Whether the outcome is what we hope for or it's a sadder story."
The Festival of Trees & Lights will be held Nov. 24-26 at at Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center Tickets cost $5 per person (free for children 2 or younger) and may be purchased online at this link. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 24 and Nov. 25, and Nov. 26 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Des Moines Holiday Boutique
One of central Iowa's earliest holiday shopping shows, the Des Moines Holiday Boutique will be held Nov. 10 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Nov. 11 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Iowa Events Center.
Tickets for adults cost $12 at the door. Children ages 12 and under are free.
The Des Moines Holiday Boutique features festive holiday entertainment, a cafe and a bar with holiday-themed drinks. Craft vendors will be at the show selling Christmas-themed gifts and holiday displays. More information can be found online.
Jingle in the Junction
Valley Junction’s holiday jubilee in West Des Moines returns from mid-November through mid-December. The free event will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 16, Nov. 30, Dec. 7 and Dec 14.
Many businesses in Valley Junction's historic business district will extend their hours. Visitors can walk along Fifth Street or Railroad Avenue and find all manner of holiday happenings, from horse-drawn trolley rides to Christmas carolers under 125,000 holiday lights. Bars and restaurants also will be open to cater to the crowd.
Holiday Promenade
Ring in the holidays with the annual Holiday Promenade in the East Village, held each Friday night from Nov. 17 to Dec. 15.
Carriage rides, scavenger hunts and other events are staples of this holiday market, and people can traipse from store to store. Each will extend its hours for the evening and offering treats and bargains. There are also plenty of restaurants and bars to visit for a snack or drink. East Village retailers are encouraged to remain open until 9 p.m.
Shortly after Fontenelle Supply Co. opened its Grand Avenue store in 2016, the Holiday Promenade helped its owners get through their first holiday season, said co-owners Erich Bockman and Adam Tweedy. The promenade brings attention to new businesses, Bockman said.
Now Bockman helps organize the event and said it gives people from outside the East Village an excuse to visit, enjoy the area and poke around."
"It gives people a reason to come to the neighborhood," Bockman said. "Some people if they live in their little pocket neighborhood out west or wherever they never get down here, they don't know what's down here. If those people haven't been down here for years, that's great for everybody."
Fall Makers Market
Polk County Conservation’s Fall Makers Market is a free event that provides an opportunity to browse goods offered by more than 40 local makers, artists and handcrafters.
Educational holiday displays are geared to provide additional, and affordable, family fun. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 19 at Jester Nature Park, 12130 N.W. 128th St., Granger.
Holiday Hullabaloo
The Holiday Hullabaloo benefitting Dorothy's House will take place each Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Nov. 24 to Dec. 31 at the Horizon Events Center, 2100 N.W. 100th St. in Clive.
Families can decorate cookies, create craft items in Santa Claus' Workshop, play mini-golf and shop in the Marketplace. There also will be an indoor arena for snowball fights and a Toyland.
Hours vary by day. Tickets can be purchased online at holidayhullabaloo.com.
Dorothy's House provides programs and resources to victims of human trafficking, exploitation and persecution.
Christkindlmarket Des Moines
Christkindlmarkets are German-inspired holiday markets held in cities around the world. Merchants set up in decorated wooden huts, and musical performers and food vendors add to the festive atmosphere. Also, don't forget the glühwein. Regional vendors will sell "old-world" hand-crafted products. Along with the German flavors, there will be craft Iowa beer to purchase.
This year’s Christkindlmarket Des Moines will be held in the parking lot of Principal Park in Des Moines at 1 Line Drive from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. Hours for this year are:
Nov. 30: 5 to 9 p.m.
Dec. 1 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Dec. 2 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Dec. 3 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Peppermint Trail
The Avenues of Ingersoll & Grand and the Roosevelt Cultural District on 42nd Street will host relatively new holiday event on Saturday, Dec. 9. Created last year, a Peppermint Trail showcases shops, restaurants and other businesses featuring peppermint or holiday-themed specials and décor.
Collections will be taken for Toys for Tots and Gingerbread Houses will be decorated from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Santa Claus will visit shops along Ingersoll Avenue from noon to 2 p.m. Carolers from the Roosevelt High School Choir will serenade shoppers in the Roosevelt Cultural District and along Ingersoll Avenue all day.
The Avenues of Ingersoll & Grand is a nonprofit that promotes economic development along Ingersoll Avenue. Lists of businesses participating in the Roosevelt Cultural District and The Avenues of Ingersoll & Grand can be found The Avenues of Ingersoll & Grand website.
Santa lights the Christmas tree at Jordan Creek
Santa Claus will light the Christmas tree at the Jordan Creek Town Center. The tree lighting ceremony will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Nov. 17 at the amphitheater.
The nearby Lutheran Church of Hope will provide live music. After Santa throws a "fireball" across the lake at the shopping center, the tree will light and fireworks will ring in the holiday season.
Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Holiday shopping events to visit in Des Moines include Holiday Promenade
