The Cedar City Festival of Trees Jubilee took place between Nov. 29 and Dec. 2, at the Heritage Center Theater. The festival encouraged Cedar City locals to show up and support programs for children, teens and families in need.
The Festival of Trees featured dozens of fully decorated trees–completed with gifts– and gift baskets donated by local businesses and individuals. These were available either for auction or to win through donation. Donors included Leavitt Group, The Pizza Factory, SC Broadband, Archway Construction and BZI Steel.
The event was free to attend and hot chocolate was served by Slurps Up. Attendees could meet Santa and get their photos professionally taken. Live music was provided as well, making it a fun night out for families and individuals.
The Cedar City Festival of Trees Jubilee has been a resounding success since its founding in 2018 by Laura Albrecht.
One event coordinator who had been part of the event since the beginning said, “She just wanted to provide for our community. She wanted something where stuff stays local, where donations you know are gonna stay right here.”
All the donations collected during the three nights of the festival fund events such as Shop With a Cop, as well as the Iron Country Care and Share. It also helps to support programs like food pantries in local high schools and assistance for homeless teens. The Festival of Trees creates a noticeable effect in the community every winter.
“Kids are having the opportunity to actually get things for Christmas that they haven’t in the past,” One volunteer shared. “There was a little boy that came to shop with a cop and all the other little kids were filling their carts full of toys and all sorts of kiddush things, and [he] just had pillows in his cart. One for him, his siblings and his parents, because he had never had a pillow before. Sometimes it’s just the simplest things we don’t realize some kids go without. That’s why it’s so meaningful.”
More information on the Festival of Trees can be found here.
Author: Anna Seipert
Editor: Fanny Felixine
Photos by Anna Seipert
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