A Season of Hope… and Plenty of Cheer!

Let’s make it a Banner Year for Small Businesses! The DDBA is imagining ways to save our small businesses & preserve Davis’ Holiday traditions. Our Season of Hope activities will include shopping incentive programs for Shop Small Saturday, a Downtown Unwrapped initiative, assisting the City with the Virtual Tree Lighting Ceremony, and plenty of safe activities like Elf on a Shelf, Letters to Santa and more!

And we’re renewing a call to YOU, and all of our community members to “COME BACK” downtown to experience new amenities, art and an ABUNDANCE OF PARKING!! We all know that Amazon will make it through this tough time. Let’s make sure our favorite small businesses do too! But enough of that, let the fun, games and shopping start already:

1) Window Decorating Contest: Many downtown businesses have gone all-out to decorate their storefronts and windows. More than 30 businesses are participating in the 9th annual Window Decorating Contest. Help us determine the people’s choice winner by voting online NOW through Dec. 17th. Click here to vote. Find our list of participating businesses here.

2) Elf on a Shelf: Elf on a Shelf is the new Where’s Waldo! Beloved to children, we have joined this recent fad that has swept the nation. By finding the elf at participating businesses, families can snap selfies with the elf, gather signatures and enter to win prizes. Details here!

3) Holiday Coloring Contest: Thank you to the dozens of artists who submitted their colorings. We have picked our winners for each age bracket. They each received a $10 gift card to the Avid Reader. See winners here.

4) Gingerbread Jubilee: Zumapoke is hosting a gingerbread house creating and decorating contest. They will display entries in their windows. Super-duper prizes available for the best creations. Click here for details!

5) Holiday Cookie Decorating Contest: The Davis Creamery invites you to put your baking and decorating skills to the test. There are multiple age groups, so everyone can join in the contest at their given skill level and possibly win prizes. Click here for details.

6) Drive-thru Letters to Santa (No-go for 2020. We’ll try again in 2021): We wanted to provide an opportunity for families to visit Santa Clause in the downtown, but we’ll have better luck in 2021. Have a happy holidays everybody and enjoy our many other activities!

7) Ugly Sweater Contest Photo Stand: The DDBA commissioned an artist and carpenter to create a freestanding photo stand for our Ugly Sweater Contest. This stand will be found in E Street Plaza by mid-December Details and photo coming soon!

8) Pence Gallery Holiday Market: Enjoy low-stress shopping at the Pence Gallery Annual Holiday Market! Featuring the work of over 50 local and regional artists, their festive display offers unique art, crafts, textiles, soaps, jewelry, and honey. Pence members always receive 10% off of gift shop items. See flyer here!

9) Zoom Visit with Santa: The Davis Odd Fellows have hosted Breakfast with Santa for over 15 years. This year they’ve got something new in store that provides for everyone’s safety… Zoom Visits with Santa on Dec. 11–13th! Click here for details.

10) Downtown Unwrapped: The City’s annual Tree Lighting Celebration was held virtually on Dec. 3rd. We unwrapped the downtown on the same day with most businesses already having their storefronts decorated. Now we invite you and your family/friends to enjoy the holiday atmosphere while checking out new art that has been popping up throughout downtown.

You can also do some holiday shopping, visit your favorite professional service and grab a bite to eat at one of the many restaurants that are a part of Open Air Davis. You’ll find plenty of options for warm and comfortable, weather-resistant outdoor seating.

11) Downtown Davis Promotions: We will share seasonal specials from your favorite downtown businesses. Check our Facebook and Instagram for constant updates in Nov. & Dec.

12) Shop Small Saturday Raffle: On Saturday, November 28th, from 10am-4pm, shoppers were provided a raffle ticket for every $20 spent at participating businesses. On the 28th at 5pm we had a drawing for awesome prizes including grand prizes of $500, $250 or $100 cash! It was a great day to do HOLIDAY SHOPPING & POSSIBLY GET CASH BACK!!

13) Shop Small Saturday Swag Bags: DDBA staff provided Shop Small Saturday swag bags to customers we met downtown. These bags were chock full of goodies and discounts and incentives from downtown businesses.

Thank you for your engagement in the downtown core. We are excited to make this fall/winter season one to remember. Let’s make this a season of hope with plenty of cheer!