Fountain Square in downtown Evanston. Photo: Madcoverboy (talk) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Evanston’s holiday season officially starts this Saturday, Nov. 29, when Downtown Evanston lights the tree in Fountain Square, at Davis Street and Sherman and Orrington avenues. The event is timed to Small Business Saturday, so shops, cafés and restaurants downtown are expected to run specials through the day.
The schedule
Live music begins at 5 p.m., and the tree is to be lit at 5:30 p.m. Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, Santa and Mrs. Claus will throw the switch, with more performances immediately after. Admission is free.
Organizers are collecting warm clothing for Hilda’s Place, a program of Connections for the Homeless. Free parking will be available all day in the three main downtown garages. Details are available from Downtown Evanston at 847-866-6319 or at downtownevanston.org.
Trolley between shopping districts
The Evanston Chamber of Commerce will run a free holiday trolley from noon to 5 p.m., linking downtown to other shopping areas. It will stop at:
- The Evanston Post Office, downtown
- The Central Street Purple Line station
- Chicago Avenue and Davis Street
- Chicago Avenue and Dempster Street, for the Chicago-Dempster merchants
- The newsstand at Chicago Avenue and Main Street, for Main Street merchants
There is no fixed timetable. The trolley waits about five minutes at each stop before continuing, so riders can hop on wherever it happens to be.
The Nov. 29 date means the ceremony draws on a crowd already out shopping. Merchants have been planning promotions in each district, from gifts with purchase on Central Street to tote-bag giveaways near Chicago and Dempster.
Fountain Square, at the center of downtown, is a gathering point for seasonal events, and the surrounding blocks of Davis Street, Sherman Avenue and Orrington Avenue are lined with restaurants and shops that tend to stay open on event nights. Visitors coming by Purple Line or Metra can reach the square on foot from the downtown stations.
Parents with children have a few reasons to stay downtown after the lighting. Smylie Bros. Brewing Co. on Oak Street planned free hot chocolate for kids after the ceremony as part of its Small Business Saturday offerings, and the donation drive gives families a simple way to take part. Hats, gloves, scarves and similar items are the kind of cold-weather essentials the drive is seeking.
Source: Downtown Evanston.
Rachel Lindqvist covers community life, the lakefront, dining and the arts for The Evanston Edge.
