Santa, food trucks, crafters, live entertainment and plenty of Christmas activity are headed to Devane Park for a new two-day festival this December. Operation Christmas Fest will be held Dec. 5 and 6, with plans to fill the park with vendors, food, performances, bounce houses and activities for all ages. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.
Lake Placid resident Tara Cruz is behind the event and is already lining up vendors, food trucks and entertainment. “I really want this to be a community festival for all ages to enjoy,” Cruz said.
Filling the park
Cruz has plenty of experience with festivals. Before moving to Lake Placid, she served on several city festival committees in Rhode Island and organized events of her own. Since moving here, she has also become a familiar face at area craft fairs and markets, where she sells jewelry on weekends. Now she wants to bring those experiences together at Devane Park.
Crafters and other vendors are being booked, along with food trucks. A vendor space is $60 for the entire weekend, with the same fee for food trucks. Cruz also wants entertainment running throughout the two days. Her wish list includes local dance groups, carolers, singers, bands, magicians, clowns and other performers. She would welcome performers who donate their time and is also working on sponsorships to help pay for entertainment.
She hopes to have everything come together by Nov. 15, when the event program will be ready for print.
Community support
Cruz is looking to the local business community to help bring Christmas Fest together, with sponsorship opportunities ranging from $100 to $2,500. Sponsors will be recognized in different ways depending on their level of support, including on festival advertising, programs and social media, with some levels including vendor space, event signage and other recognition during the weekend. The larger sponsorship packages include recognition at sponsored activities, entrance or main-stage signage and, at the highest level, the sponsor’s name and logo on event T-shirts. Entrance signage is pending Town of Lake Placid approval.
The reason behind the festival
Teenagers may be past the Santa and toy stage, but Christmas is no less important to them. Cruz started Operation Christmas Gifts for Teens about 10 years ago after finding that many holiday assistance programs focused on younger children or had age cutoffs that left teens out. “So many families receive help for their younger children, especially at Christmas time, but often the teens aged 12-18 are the forgotten ones,” Cruz said. “I am making sure they do have a gift under their tree.”
Cruz understood that need from personal experience. When her son was 12, she moved from Florida to Rhode Island in December, after many organizations had already completed their Christmas giveaways. A local organization and his school helped with a few gifts. Years later, after someone on a community Facebook page she managed asked about Christmas assistance for teenagers, Cruz began researching what was available. That led her and her best friend to begin helping teens at Christmas. Operation Christmas Gifts for Teens Inc. is a Florida 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving families in Highlands, Glades, DeSoto, Okeechobee, Polk and St. Lucie counties, providing gifts for teens in low-income families and special-needs young adults through age 27. Cruz is also working to establish Angel Trees and gift drop-off locations throughout the area.
Christmas Fest will serve as a fundraiser and gift drive for the organization.
Christmas Fest details
Operation Christmas Fest
Dec. 5: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dec. 6: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Devane Park, Lake Placid
Admission is free
Vendor and food truck spaces: $60 for both days
Contact: ocgiftsforteens@gmail.com
