Festival Of Trees Sprouts With Holiday Cheer
The unofficial herald of Christmas in the Quad-Cities, Festival of Trees, trumpeted its first notes over the weekend, rolling into 10 days of holiday fun which will go through Sunday, Nov. 27 at Davenport’s RiverCenter.
More than 30,000 people are expected to check out the event, getting a look at elaborately decorated trees, wreaths, gingerbread houses and more, while enjoying holiday music and feasting on various treats.
“It really brings the community together in a lot of ways,” said festival-goer Wendy Orman, 28, of
LeClaire. “The performers on stage, the trees, the rooms, the wreaths, the student artworks, everything about it brings people from the community together in the holiday spirit.”
It its 32nd year, the festival hosts 63 trees, seven decorated rooms and was kept afloat by the generosity of over 300 volunteers. Last year it raised over $350,000 for Quad City Arts and its myriad of local arts programs last year, and the 2016 take is expected to exceed those goals, said Carolyn Hamilton, co-chair of facility logistics for the festival, who has been with the festival for 26 of its 32 years.
“It’s a wonderful experience,” Hamilton said. “We started setup on Nov. 2, with this room completely empty and blank, and we set it up, watched it bloom, and after today’s final day, we’ll begin teardown tonight and have everything boxed up and out by Wednesday. It’s quite a lot of work and effort, but it’s always worth it because it’s for a good cause and so many people enjoy it. I know I always enjoy being a part of it.”
Their hard work is duly noted by attendees.
“I can’t imagine how much work it is to put this together, it’s amazing to see, the trees are beautiful and everything about it is really festive,” said Debbie Anderson, 45, of Moline. “It’s a perfect event for the holidays.”
Many Quad-Citians see the festival as a rite of passage into the holiday season, they said.
“I’ve been coming here pretty much every year since I was little, we make it a point of going,” said Kelsey Binegar, 28, of North Liberty. “It really gets me into the holiday spirit.”
Children just embarking upon that tradition agreed.
“It’s really good,” said Alysha Orman, 5, of LeClaire. “I like the trees and my favorite part is Santa.”
As for the adults, who buzzed about taking selfies and pictures around the various plastic fauna, there was one tree that seemed to be named quite often as a favorite.
“I love the Iowa Hawkeyes tree,” Binegar said, as she snapped a picture of the tree festooned in gold, black and various Hawkeyes logos and ornaments. “It represents two of the best things about this time of year – Iowa football and Christmas.”
