Even though everyone celebrates Christmas differently, the town of Atlanta, Illinois had a fun event for people of all ages. The Atlanta Christmas Weekend festivities were held on November 27th and 28th. To start off the event, the Holiday Market was set up inside the Union Hall. Perfect for small businesses, there were booths that sold woodworking, crafts, jewelry, and more. Before the parade on the 28th, Santa came to visit the children and granted all of their holiday wishes! Also, guests enjoyed complimentary cookies and hot chocolate while waiting for the parade to start. The parade was held at 4:30 along Historic Route 66 and showcased many amazing floats and cars beautifully decorated with the Christmas spirit! Local businesses were invited to have a car or float, with a prize for the best decorated. The best float, a Christmas movie theme, was made by the Logan County APA, and the best car, a Grinch theme, was made by the Atlanta Public Library. Congratulations to these organizations! 

After a fun-filled parade, guests headed to the corner of South and Church Street to witness the big Christmas tree lighting. The tree was lit up by Billie Cheek and presented many beautiful lights and ornaments. The Country Aire also hosted a special night for this event. To support the Atlanta Christmas Lighting Committee, anyone who dined at the restaurant would have a portion of the proceeds go towards maintaining and improving Atlanta Christmas decorations. Overall, this weekend was an amazing Christmas memory for many residents and visitors alike! The public is hoping to keep this going as an annual tradition now.

Coming up, also, in the town of Atlanta is the “12 Days of Christmas” event being held by the Atlanta Public Library District. They are having one activity each night between the days of December 7th and December 18th. Some of these include Bingo night, ornament making, cooking decorating, Christmas slime, and multiple movie nights. Most events are for people of all ages. All these exciting events will be held at the Union Hall. For more information about activities and times, you can visit the Atlanta Public Library’s Facebook page and website!