Wilkes-Barre celebrates Small Business Saturday with Public Square Holiday Market and more
From a press release:
At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30 on the 10th anniversary of Small Business Saturday, a special ribbon cutting will take place outside of the Bee Hive Gift Shop in Midtown Village in Wilkes-Barre. The ribbon cutting kicks off Small Business Saturday in downtown Wilkes-Barre, a day of events dedicated to supporting our community’s small businesses coordinated by the Diamond City Partnership, the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Association, the city of Wilkes-Barre, and supported by the PPL Foundation.
At the ribbon cutting, Lindsay Griffin (Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce), Larry Newman (Diamond City Partnership), and Patricia Hughes (city of Wilkes-Barre) will announce plans for 2020’s Downtown Pop-up Holiday Marketplace. For the past two years, Wilkes-Barre’s Holiday Pop-up Shops have brought a fresh holiday shopping experience to downtown Wilkes-Barre, and now this partnership will take that initiative to the next level during the 2020 holiday season.
After the ribbon cutting at Bee Hive Gift Shop (41 S. Main St.), Saturday’s action shifts to Wilkes-Barre’s Public Square, where the Old-Fashioned Holiday Market will take place from 11 a.m.-7 p.m., featuring food, entertainment, and arts and crafts all day. The 2019 Holiday Market will include the following:
- Multiple retail and craft vendors on Public Square.
- From noon-3 p.m., visit with Santa and receive surprises for your children, courtesy of Citymark.
- Horse-drawn carriage rides will be offered from 2 p.m.-7 p.m. for $5 per person, presented by former Miss Pennsylvania Outstanding Teen 2017 Madison Dompkosky, with all proceeds to benefit Cori’s Place in Wilkes-Barre.
- From 3 p.m.-7 p.m., enjoy a live nativity featuring Moving River Ministries and animals from The Lands at Hillside Farms.
- Throughout the day, entertainment at the bandstand will include the Mt. Zion Praise Dance Team, Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, David Blight School of Dance, Mohegan Sun Pocono Holiday Choir, Moving River Ministries Dramatic Sign Language Team and Youth Stick performers, and Misericordia University’s Beyond Harmony A Capella Group.
- The F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts will host a Holiday Arts Market from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. featuring local artists, ornament making station, coloring sheets, and more. The market will also feature a holiday story time, Christmas carol sing-a-long, tree lighting, and a visit from Santa from 1 p.m.-1:45 p.m. The movie “Miracle on 34th Street” will also be shown at 2 p.m.
Throughout the day on Small Business Saturday, more than 50 small businesses in downtown and greater Wilkes-Barre will offer special deals or discounts at their store locations, giving local shoppers incentive to “shop small.” For a list of participating business and vendors is below:
Nov. 30 marks the 10th annual Small Business Saturday, a day to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy, and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small Business Saturday was created in response to small business owners’ most pressing need – more customers.
The Diamond City Partnership is Wilkes-Barre’s not-for-profit downtown management organization, serving as the caretaker of the community’s vision for downtown Wilkes-Barre. DCP also manages the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Improvement District, which provides a range of supplementary services to downtown’s property and business owners.
The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce is a member-driven organization, representing hundreds of businesses and organizations in Northeastern Pennsylvania and focused on helping members grow and succeed through a wide range of programs and events. The chamber, which traces its origins to 1884, acts as the “voice of business” on issues that affect the community.
