BLOOMINGTON — The first gift of Bloomington-Normal’s holiday season is unwrapping next week, filling the Interstate Center with a winter wonderland in support of the community’s 120-year-old children’s agency.
The 29th annual Festival of Trees opens Nov. 17, bringing The Baby Fold‘s largest fundraiser back to full force.
“I think there’s a new excitement about being together again,” said Aimee Beam, vice president of development and public relations for The Baby Fold, the Normal-based human services agency. “I’m feeling increasingly like our audience and our supporters want to be together again; they’re ready … to spend some time in fellowship together and enjoy an actual event.”
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The festival returned to the Interstate Center last year and raised about $250,000. Organizers say that is the goal again this year.
Tickets are on sale online at festoftrees.org, and online buyers will be registered automatically for the mobile bidding. Tickets will also be sold at the doors, where event staff will be able to assist with online signups.
All bidding for trees and other items has moved online, a byproduct of 2020, when the festival was held primarily online with a limited in-person retail space.
The Festival of Trees will be ready for the public with the Interstate Center transformed for the occasion, 4-8 p.m. Thursday. Doors will be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The traditional Avanti’s Family Night is back and doubling this year, held 5-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights with live entertainment.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 3 to 12. Tickets for the Avanti’s Family Nights with the meal are $15 for adults and $10 for children.
Senior Day activities will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and children’s activities will be available throughout the span of the festival, plus an opportunity to meet Santa Claus at the Jingle Bell Junction.
Christmas trees, wreaths and centerpieces as well as gift baskets and a whole village of gingerbread houses — “more like a metropolis these days” — will be available and on display for bid and purchase. All proceeds will go toward supporting the more than 1,200 children and families served by The Baby Fold, with programs that include adoption support, foster care, special education and early childhood programming.
“That’s a sight to behold,” Beam said of the festival. “I hope people will come in and they’ll just feel like they can smile and exhale. It’s been a tough couple of years for a lot of people, and I hope that every minute of their time at the Festival of Trees brings them joy and smiles. And not only are they enjoying themselves, but they know that they’re doing it for a good reason.”
The festival will include 518 items made by 278 people with 475 shifts of volunteers helping with setup, tear-down and everything in between, plus nearly 100 sponsors.
“When you think about a community activity that brings everybody together for the greater good, the Festival of Trees is it, and that’s what I think is so special about it,” she said. “I mean, think about everyone from our business partners to the talented people in their homes trying to do something good for the kids and all coming together to help.”
Beam said in addition to raising money to support The Baby Fold’s program, the festival also gives community members an opportunity to learn more about the agency and what it does to help children and families, bringing more supporters on board with the mission.
“That captures their hearts, and then we have them as donors and friends and they continue to help us build our network,” she said. “It really ends up meaning a lot more than just the money to us. It’s our network, our friends, our family, you know, come together to help us.”