40 Years of Holiday Magic
Celebrating Four Decades of the Festival of Trees and Trains
By: Kathy Clayton
The Ashland Beacon
For 40 years the Festival of Trees and Trains has been bringing holiday magic to the tristate. This year’s event opens Friday, Nov. 22, at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland.
“This looks like it will be a record-breaking year, with around 150 Christmas trees and holiday items on display,” said Ashley Fletcher, chairperson for this year’s festival. The festival runs 10 days, from Nov. 22 through Dec. 1, at the Paramount Arts Center on Winchester Avenue in Ashland.
This year will include a few decorated nutcrackers, a first for the festival. Other items, besides the beautiful, creative Christmas trees, include wreaths, art items and centerpieces. The public can visit the FOTT website to place bids on the Christmas trees and other items.
As always, there will be gift baskets that the public can bid on, and the Candy Cane Café in the PAC Marquee Room will have vendor items for sale as well as snacks. Paxton the Penguin will make appearances throughout the run of the show.
“We are excited to present the 40th anniversary Festival of Trees and Trains,” Fletcher said. “The festival is a special holiday event that has become a tradition among lots of families in our community.” The festival committee estimates that around 16,000 people will visit this year.
For the past few years, the event has included a special sensory hour where people can attend during a quiet time of no music or blinking lights. Sensory hour is Friday, Nov. 29, from 11 a.m. until noon.
The Festival of Trees and Trains opens Friday Nov. 22, and runs through Sunday, December 1. Hours are noon until 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and noon until 5 p.m. on Sundays. Setup is ongoing this week, with community volunteers and decorators coming and going to build their displays. Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for children under 12, and $6 for senior citizens.
A special panel of judges will view the trees prior to opening and select their winners. The public will see ribbons on the winning trees and other art items when the festival opens. The public also has the change to vote for their favorite item by depositing their admission ticket in the voting boxes next to each display.
Christmas trees are grouped into different categories – Community trees and feature trees, in sizes of large, medium and small, as well as school trees and Scout trees.
Each Saturday of the festival will feature a visit from St. Nick during Cocoa with Santa from noon until 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. A variety of different entertainers will perform on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as the Friday after Thanksgiving. A schedule of the entertainment can be found on the website, www.pacfott.org.
“Without our generous community support, the festival would not happen,” Fletcher noted. “We are so thankful for the support and donations for the last 40 years. Please come enjoy all the fantastically decorated trees, amazing entertainment, and children’s activities with us this year.”