The chilly, winter streets of Athabasca will warm up with activity Dec. 1 during the Athabasca and District Chamber of Commerce’s annual Moonlight Madness event.
“We want (people) to shop local. Support your local dealers, support your local shops; it’s what helps keep our local economy going, is everybody trying to shop local,” said former Chamber of Commerce president and event organizer Todd Dutchak. “You know where your money is going, instead of going into the city. It’s keeping our little town going.”
The annual event, where stores put on their best deals and specials to attract people to do their Christmas shopping locally, will be kicked off with the Santa Claus parade at 6:30 p.m. The route will begin at the riverfront heading up 49th Street, across 49th Avenue and down 50th Street, and ending at Home Hardware where Santa will be set up for pictures inside the store.
Dutchak said that in previous years, they have put a time on the fireworks but always end up early, so this year he is saying the fireworks will be “after the parade.”
A new feature this year will include carolers spreading Christmas spirit through song while walking through downtown.
“If people want to join in and walk around with them and sing, have at ’er. Get your singing voice on,” Dutchak said.
The game is the same as last year, a hunt for song titles hidden throughout stores in Athabasca.
Dutchak said there is a lot of excitement surrounding Moonlight Madness, as the streets line up with people anticipating Santa arriving in downtown Athabasca.
“You can tell there’s a lot of excitement in the air for the parade and the fireworks,” he said. “The Chamber of Commerce does their job by trying to get the people out there. We definitely do our jobs by trying to get people out there; we just hope the people go into the stores.”
