This year marks FreeportUSA’s 24th Annual Sparkle Celebration. The event happens every year on the first weekend in December as a festive way for residents and guests to celebrate the holiday season. The Sparkle Celebration is also meant to provide additional financial support to the business community before traffic slows for the winter. Annual events and celebrations are a great way to drive traffic into shops, restaurants and hotels, providing them with the additional boost needed to have a strong conclusion to the peak season.

“One of my favorite things about Sparkle Celebration is that the whole community comes together to make it a fantastic experience for attendees,” says Kelly Edwards, FreeportUSA’s executive director. FreeportUSA coordinates the holiday decorating competition, Parade of Lights, Talking Christmas Tree and the Sparkle Express Train Adventure, but with a full time staff of two we depend on our neighbors in the business community to add their own events to the schedule. As a result we have fantastic events ranging from food & beverage tastings and story time to craft pop ups and live music. The best part is the the majority of the events are free for guests to enjoy!”

Some of the businesses also use the event as a way to support their favorite non-profits. Tommy Hilfiger offers free gift wrapping in exchange for donations to Pets for Vets, L.L.Bean also has free gift wrapping to support numerous area non profits, and they recently held a coat drive for seniors as a part of their Northern Lights Celebration. The Nordica Movie
Theatre offers free showings of The Polar Express in exchange for canned food donations for the local food pantry.

The Sparkle Celebration is a great way to celebrate the holidays while staying in Maine. You can visit the warming hut nestled in between hundreds of lit up Christmas trees while sipping hot cocoa. You can meet with Santa, and write letters directly to the North Pole, and you can enjoy a fire roasted s’more while enjoying the sights and sounds of people laughing and having fun. The Sparkle Celebration is a great new holiday tradition for those young or old.