Celebrate Christmas with downtown market Dec. 12
Enjoy the sounds of the season and a select shopping opportunity at the Downtown Christmas Market on Saturday, Dec. 12.
The Darlington Downtown Revitalization Association (DDRA) will hold the Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Trinity United Methodist Church, 126 Pearl St. Admission and parking are free.
The event is an offshoot of its signature Market on Darlington Square, which runs monthly May through October.
“People enjoy coming together during the warmer months for the Market, and this will be an extension of that,” says Lisa Chalian-Rock, director of the DDRA.
Musicians and performances will go on throughout the day on the hall’s stage. The lineup includes John Pickett, Tyler Cook, Dizzy Dancing of Hartsville, Rusty Henderson, the Mayo High School Phoenix Phame and Concert Choir, Frederick Ingram, Hartsville Gymnastics, Sandy Banks, and Dawn Larsen & the Vicious Hillbillies. All will be family-friendly or holiday tunes.
Vendors will feature lots of hand crafted items, soaps, jewelry, and artwork as well as homemade jams, jellies, and breads. A few retail vendors will have unique candles, cookware, cosmetics, and home decor. Other items include quilts, wreaths, aprons, cards, food, and more.
While you shop, there will be free face painting for the kids and a coloring table to occupy the little ones.
“In support of our main mission, we will also distribute maps of local businesses where shoppers can go after they attend the Market,” Rock says.
This is just one part of the DDRA’s #ShopDarlington effort, which includes encouraging people to use that hashtag on social media.
“We will have a #ShopSmall Breakfast on the Saturday after Thanksgiving at Darlington Country Club from 7:30 to 9:30 that morning,” Rock says. “We also will hold a drawing where shoppers can win a $100 gift card just for shopping at five different Darlington businesses during the holidays.”
There will be three winners for that contest, and multiple entries are allowed to encourage residents to shop in town as much as possible. More details of that promotion, the #ShopDarlington contest, can be found online at www.facebook.com/DarlingtonDowntown or by calling 843-398-4000 x 103.
Businesses who want their brochures, flyers, coupons, or menus handed out at the Christmas Market can call Rock at 843-398-4000 x 103 or email her at darlingtonplanner@gmail.com, and she will pick those items up the week of the event.
