Just in time for the holiday season, the Bed-Stuy Gateway Business Improvement District will host its Small Business Saturday Winter Wonderland Art on the Avenue holiday ceremony on Nov. 29.
The festive immersive experience will begin with an official kick off ceremony at 2:00pm at Marcy Plaza, on Fulton Street and Marcy Avenue, featuring live performances and words for local stakeholders and elected officials.
The kickoff will be followed by an afternoon of fun activities designed to celebrate and support local businesses as part of the BID’s “Shop Your Neighborhood” initiative. This family-friendly event includes three distinct activities: the Walk the Ave, Read the Tale adventure, which involves the 25 storefront art installations highlighting the story of Lionel the Lying Lion and encouraging visitors to discover diverse shops; the Seek & Find Challenge, a fun scavenger hunt designed to engage the community with local businesses; and the Picture Card Raffle, which provides participants an opportunity to enter completed cards for hourly raffle drawings from 3:00pm to 6:00pm for a chance to win a $300 Bose Speaker.
“The Bed-Stuy Gateway BID’s Winter Wonderland is more than just a holiday kick-off; it is an economic and cultural declaration of our neighborhood's strength and creativity,” said Dale Charles, executive director of Bed-Stuy Gateway BID. “By bringing a heartwarming story like ‘Lionel the Lying Lion’ to our storefronts, we are turning our commercial corridor into a destination that champions art, literacy, family well-being, and most importantly creating traffic for our local merchants."
Designed specifically to champion the spirit of Small Business Saturday, Winter Wonderland strategically creates necessary foot traffic throughout the Bedford-Stuyvesant commercial district, organizers said. This focused effort provides shoppers with a vibrant opportunity to shop local, discover unique gifts, and directly support the community's small businesses during the critical holiday shopping season.
