Zack Sullivan, Executive Director
Geneseo Chamber of Commerce
309-944-2686
Christmas Begins Here.
Geneseo’s annual Christmas Open House is the official kickoff to the holiday season, offering customers a fun and unique holiday shopping experience. This year’s Christmas Open House will be Friday November 15, 2024 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm in Downtown
Geneseo.
The City of Geneseo will unveil and turn on its Downtown holiday decorations for the first time this holiday season. Stores will be open late for Candlelight Shopping, and free horse and wagon rides through Downtown Geneseo will be offered, sponsored by Springfield Armory.
The Shop Geneseo! Promotion will also kick off, in which shoppers supporting Geneseo businesses get cards stamped for their purchases, and for every $100spent, they enter into a drawing to win prizes, gift certificates, and more. Supporting local small businesses in Geneseo this holiday season is a win-win!
But, in 2024, we are going big for our holiday kickoff. Earlier this year, an independent arborist advised that the City Christmas Tree, which had served as the centerpiece of Geneseo’s holiday celebrations for over 30 years, is at extreme risk of failure and should be taken down for safety purposes.
The City made the difficult decision to remove the tree this past summer. In June, Geneseo celebrated the tree one final time with an epic summertime Christmas celebration called “The Last Lighting”.
The Last Lighting attracted over 800 people to Downtown Geneseo to see the tree light up one more time. And what an evening it was! Since then, the tree has been removed and a new platform is being built to accommodate the new tree and a better layout for parade announcing during the Geneseo Christmas Walk event, which will be on Saturday December 14, 2024.
Now, let the anticipation begin as Geneseo counts down to “The First Lighting” of the new City Christmas Tree. The new tree is a beautiful artificial tree, and it will become the focal point of Geneseo’s holiday traditions moving forward. It is a stunning tree! The First Lighting will take place at 6:00 pm during the Christmas Open House event, with a countdown led by Santa and Mrs. Claus. We will be closing off the street at the tree and people are invited to take photos with the new tree, enjoy Christmas Music, holiday treats and luminaires!
Of course, Santa will be on hand to help us light the tree for the first time!
For more information, contact the Geneseo Chamber of Commerce at 309-944-2686,
email geneseo@geneseo.org, or visit www.geneseo.org.