Merry and Bright: Jarrell’s Inaugural Christmas Festival Lights Up the Season

by Charlotte Kovalchuk

Friends and families can mark their calendars for the first annual A Very Merry Jarrell festival, which will spread Christmas cheer on Saturday, December 16 from 3 to 8pm in the downtown area.

Festival goers can look forward to:

• A 26-foot Christmas tree

• A visit from Santa

• Music

• Food and drinks

• Downtown lights

• Local vendors

• Street dancing

• Free, trackless train rides and ice skating for all ages until 7pm

• An after party hosted by El Pitayo from 8 to 11pm

The goal of the festival is to foster unity in the community and create a city worth investing in, City Manager Danielle Singh says. “The partnership with El Pitayo is a perfect example of how these events can spur economic growth and development. One of our most important functions as a city is to support small businesses and create opportunities for entrepreneurs. We hope that as the event grows in future years, it will continue to create opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses.”

One festival activity Danielle is especially looking forward to is the street dance, which was held previously as an annual fundraiser for the volunteer fire department. It was an event everyone looked forward to, first on Fifth Street and later in the pavilion behind the main fire station. “By incorporating a street dance and holding the event on Fifth Street, we felt it was a way to honor the history of our city while creating new traditions with the community.”

Gathering Place

A Very Merry Jarrell originated from a City Council discussion about the lack of local events, followed by a vote to bring a Christmas festival to Jarrell. “Currently our residents have to travel to other cities for events we do not offer,” Mayor Patrick Sherek says. “This creates a favorable time for citizens to gather, businesses to promote their products, and see downtown/old town as a vibrant place. This also creates the opportunity for people to travel to Jarrell.”

For Mayor Sherek, the event is the fulfillment of a campaign promise. “I branded my campaign when I ran for mayor to bring events back to Jarrell and add value to our citizens."

Mayor Pro-Tem Tanya Clawson is looking forward to the festival being one of the first steps toward reviving the downtown. “In my opinion this is the starting point of our efforts to revitalize downtown by bringing people together and seeing all the potential. Downtown will be shining bright with the people gathered and that helps to create future vision."

For event updates, follow The City of Jarrell, Texas Government on social media and mark your calendars for the city’s next holiday, scheduled to celebrate Independence Day, on Saturday, July 6, 2024.