Holiday festivals focus on rebound
A band of grade schoolers with glittering Santa Claus hats and electric guitars commanded the crowd Saturday that descended on Fourth Street in San Rafael.
Businesses had flung open their doors to shoppers and children on a cityrun scavenger hunt for the San Rafael Parade of Lights and Winter Wonderland festival. Vendors lined the street. Nine-yearold Andre Palma grabbed the mike and got the crowd cheering. “Hello Winter Wonderland,” Andre hollered. “How ya doing?”
Black Friday is over, but the holiday shopping season had just begun.
All around the Bay Area over the weekend, residents flocked downtown to watch city officials light Christmas trees. Santa Claus floated down the Petaluma River. San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens unveiled its holidaydecked carousal. Ice skaters twirled at Union Square. Craft fairs took over brewpubs and community halls.
There’s a lot riding on this holiday season for businesses still reeling from pandemic closures and wading through the impacts of inflation.
San Rafael reshaped its winter festival to lure commerce, eschewing its traditional show-stopping sledding hill with real snow in favor of an event focused on local business, said Sarah Tipple, executive director of the San Rafael Business Improvement District.
Instead of a formal parade, classic car drivers decked their rides in holiday lights and cruised downtown.
While some businesses have rebounded after the pandemic, some storefronts remain shuttered and others are struggling amid inflation and other economic pressures. Encouraging residents and visitors to shop at local businesses is more important than ever, Tipple said.
“You can’t Amazon Prime a festival,” she added, referring to a shift toward online shopping that accelerated during COVID lockdowns.
On Fourth Street, vendors lined the blocks. The jump house was bumping. Food trucks slung lobster rolls and french fries. Couples posed for selfies in a human-scale snow globe. Children made Popsicle stick ornaments.
Salon owner Bishlam Bullock stood outside his business and encouraged a child to grab a gift from a Christmasy mailbox. Bullock and his wife shepherded their business, Salon B, through the pandemic’s economic downturn by improvising: They started selling take-home hair dye kits and comforting items such as candles. Many businesses around theirs didn’t survive.
Bullock said he’s relieved to see more storefronts open again and people lining up outside restaurants. Saturday’s festival marked the first time crowds of people seemed totally comfortable gathering downtown, he said. People were talking, hugging, socializing.
“It’s important to get the community to come out and remember there’s a downtown with things to do,” Bullock said.
Juggler Frisco Fred lit three batons aflame and began tossing them in the air, dazzling children who sat around him with their legs crossed, wearing expressions of delight. Passing around his hat, he amused the parents in an attempt at clairvoyance: “The people who give me twenties work for Google.”
Warren and Emma Kist beamed as daughters Ellie and Jessica, 8 and 9, were rapt with awe as Frisco Fred transformed a paper rose into a real one. Warren Kist said they were ready for public life to come back: “Bring it on.”