Pink Friday to kick off holiday shopping

Greenfield Chamber Main Street (GCMS) officials are beginning to feel the holidays fill the air in Greenfield and are eager for upcoming holiday activities.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, officials released information last week about upcoming events.

GCMS will sponsor an event called Pink Friday 4-7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22 and their annual Festival of Lights Friday, Nov. 29.

Camille Blair, event organizer with GCMS, said Pink Friday will take place locally this year instead of Small Business Saturday. It is a night targeted at women which will include special offers, pink treats and drinks, selfie photo opportunities, scratch and win games, a craft collect take and make as well as a $300 Greenbucks Giveaway.

At the end of the day, despite rebuilding efforts continuing from the tornado, Blair said it is very important for the community to resume a sense of normalcy.

“It’s mostly women who are going to be doing holiday shopping, so while you’re shopping, why not have a little fun with it and go all out,” Blair said. “The idea behind it is that it’s before Black Friday, before Thanksgiving and before those big events. You don’t have to stress, going crazy trying to get all your holiday shopping done with the big door-busters. We want people to support small and shop small first before they go to Des Moines for door-busters on Black Friday.”

The theme for this year’s Festival of Lights is “Finding Joy in Our Journey.” It will feature a lighted parade and a visit from Santa Claus. Blair explained one vision she has for this theme is tornado survivors showcasing something that reminds them of how much they have despite what they’ve been through in the last year.

There will be additional Christmas-themed events put on by other organizations in the days following Festival of Lights.

“At the end of the day, Thanksgiving and Christmas will bring so much joy,” Blair said. “I’m very, very hopeful that for Festival of Lights, for instance, we can get a lot of participants so that we can celebrate together and make that a great moment on the square.”