JINGLE BELL NIGHT SNEAK PEAK! Pages

J I N G L E B E L L N I G H T

Annual Jingle Bell weekend kick-starts the holiday season

By Carolina Saenz

The holiday season is here! And with it comes the most wonderful time of the year in Paris: The Jingle Bell Weekend! Organized by the Downtown Paris BIA, the weekend of November 18th to November 20th is dedicated to all things festive and is guaranteed to put you into the holiday spirit, if you aren’t already counting down the days! Make sure you head downtown next weekend for late-night and tax-free shopping, live music, and festive deals and contests at participating downtown retailers. Starting with the traditional Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Cobblestone Commons at 7pm on the Friday, this weekend is your chance to cross some items off your Christmas list and soak up some small-town community spirit while supporting local. To incorporate a local touch to what’s quickly becoming a popular community tradition, one lucky person will get to light up the community Christmas tree. This year, you can enter a colouring contest and the winner will flip the switch on the tree of lights. You can pick up a colouring sheet at from The Attic Interiors, Baby B Home, and The Paris Bohemian Gallery and enter your finished masterpiece by November 15 for a chance to win. The winner will be announced at 6 pm that day. In terms of specific deals and offers from participating retailers, every shop is unique and worth visiting. “Every downtown business will be doing their individual in-store festive feature. It will be a great weekend to shop local and discover all the amazements our downtown has to offer,” shares Katherine Pickering from The Paris Bohemian Gallery on William Street. Pickering will have a giveaway game, treats, and free gift wrapping at her gallery, which features a wonderful collection of local artists and a unique variety of gift options to please everyone on your list. Also located on William Street is the beautiful SLV&CO boutique. This gem of a store offers a great selection of holiday wear, slippers, gloves, blouses, jeans, and vegan purses. It also has a variety of items on sale, and plus sizes available. The boutique will be offering an amazing 20% off in store and online all weekend.

The tree lighting ceremony (above) is always popular, as are the Royal Princesses, pictured with Mayor David Bailey

Photos by Michelle Malvaso

The Paris Firefighter’s Club will be at Jingle Bell Night, as pictured to the left, to collect new toy donations to contribute to the Paris Community Christmas Hamper program.

All photos by Michelle Malvaso

“I take the stress off the shopper and provide my experience and passion in suggesting styles and sizes that are designed to make you feel like a million bucks,” shares SLV&CO’s Shelby McCutcheon. For those looking to give the gift of pampering, look no further than Fizz Soakery. Shop for all your favourite bath products tax-free, including festive bath bombs, candles, home decor, and even gift baskets. “Last year was a huge success and we are really looking forward to seeing everyone out again! We hope everyone will make their way down to Fizz Soakery for some shopping and we might even have some delicious hot apple cider to warm you up,” writes Courtney McColl. Over at The Gem Marketplace, the renovated former silent movie theatre features a variety of independent vendors including Crystal Whisperer, Under the Oak Tree, Grandriver shirts, Luna's Doghouse, and an upcoming new shop called Neon Nyan. They will be offering tax-free shopping as well as their own festivities. Anne Wilson from Crystal Whisperer will be offering a gift with purchases over $30 in addition to tax-free shopping of all crystals, incense, handcrafted jewelry, leather journals, singing bowls, and other spiritual items. Continued on page 14

The Paris Independent 14

November 12, 2022 J I N G L E B E L L N I G H T

So take a stroll and enjoy this Parisian tradition to ring in the holidays. Don’t forget to visit as many participating retailers as possible and fill out a ballot with each purchase for your chance to win a $500 downtown shopping spree. Additional retailers that can’t be missed include From The Attic Interiors, Baby B Home, Impakt Studio (offering 25% off Aveda products), and the Wincey Mills. “On behalf of our Downtown Paris BIA, this is going to be an exciting and inclusive weekend to shop and experience all that our beautiful downtown Paris has to offer for the holidays! Get out and experience our Paris,” Pickering encourages. If you’re looking for a way to support the Paris Community Christmas Hamper program, which is in full swing, bring some new toy donations down to help the Paris Fire Fighters who will be on site collecting. Mike Yarek Dodge Dealership will have a Ram truck on the main street and you’re urged to help them ‘Cram the Ram’ with food donations. Don’t be surprised if you run into Doug the Great –although he’s quite hard to miss and don’t forget to take a selfie with a royal princess as they wander through the crowds. It an excellent family event that will leave you with all the Christmas feels.

Fizz Soakery (left) caught the festive bug at last year’s event and is looking forward to it again next weekend.

Download this Christmas Tree .jpeg to your computer and print a copy. Colour and hand it in to one of the participating stores in the ad before November 15th and you might be the guest of honour who turns on the lights at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony.