Even before the Gold Line station opens in the Downtown Arcadia area in 2016, the business and property owners in the area are taking advantage of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority‘s offer to be the primary sponsor of an exciting event to draw new customers to the area.
Arcadia Chamber of Commerce members and other local merchants will be promoting their businesses as vendors from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. the next three Saturday evenings, Dec. 7, 14 & 21 at the first-ever Arcadia’s Best’s Downtown Christmas Market, presented by the non-profit Arcadia’s Best Foundation.
New Downtown business Forest Lawn is also a major sponsor, with additional support from the City of Arcadia, Matt Denny’s Ale House Restaurant, NAI Capital’s Marie Taylor and Dan Bacani, Attorney at Law April A. Verlato, and the Arcadia Downtown Business Association.
Downtown Arcadia will come alive with a traditional holiday atmosphere of music, unique gifts, food and activities every Saturday night until Christmas with the first-ever European-style Christmas Market.
First Avenue will be closed from Huntington Drive to Wheeler Avenue and filled with more than 40 different vendor booths each night, live music, and inflated jumpers and slides produced by Family Festival Productions.
The festive Christmas environment, including lighted palm trees, a 30-foot inflated Christmas tree and giant Santa Claus, blowing snow, and projected snowflakes on buildings, will be created by Town & Country Event Rentals & Services.
Attendees will find special items of interest for the holidays from local merchants such as bicycles and related gear from Helen’s Cycles, elegant collectibles by Christine’s Gifts & Collectibles and Pok-A-Dots, the latter also offering all manner of Santa costumes.
Special gifts from jewelers, spas, and salons on First Avenue and Huntington Drive, including 1st Avenue Salon, will also be available, as will gift book collections from The Book Rack, and plenty of delicious food and drinks.
Health facilities on the street, 24 Hour Fitness and The Fitness Factor, will be open on the same block where other shops such as Robusto Cigars and Stacked Sandwich also provide popular daily customer services a few doors away from The Sonata Room Latin and ballroom dance studio.
The Christmas Market, patterned after the centuries-old annual Christmas Markets in Europe that have recently become enormously popular in North American cities such as New York, Chicago and Vancouver, will showcase the plethora of services available within walking distance in Downtown Arcadia, all of which continue to be open for business during construction of the much-anticipated Gold Line light rail line to be ready for riders in 2016.
In addition to responding to the request of local merchants to spearhead a street market during construction work – the Gold Line Construction Authority is the primary backer of the Christmas Market — the Authority has also funded a new Visitors map for Downtown Arcadia featuring ads funded by the Gold Line for many local businesses, hung banners in the construction area to remind drivers that businesses remain open during construction, and has arranged for a valet service on Huntington Drive this month to offset the temporary reduction of parking spaces behind Matt Denny’s Ale House & Restaurant.
Work is well underway on the train bridge over Santa Anita Avenue, the crossing gate at the location of the station at First Avenue and Santa Clara Street, and is just beginning on the widening of the tracks behind the shops on the north side of Huntington Drive and the bridge over Huntington Drive at Second Avenue.
Plenty of free parking for the Christmas Market is available in several public lots off of Wheeler Avenue east and west of First Ave. Attendees should enter Wheeler from Santa Anita Ave. or Second Ave.
About Arcadia’s Best Foundation
Arcadia’s Best Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community events organization dedicated to creating events and experiences that bring te community together.
About Forest Lawn
For more than a century, Forest Lawn has been an integral part of Southern California. Since its founding, Forest Lawn has committed itself to providing outstanding service and beautiful environments for family outings, remembering loved ones, and commemorating holidays. Our locations in the Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties, as well as the Coachella Valley, serve all faiths and cultures, and offer a wide range of memorial services.
Whether you are planning how to help your loved ones remember you, memorializing someone special in your life, or enjoying holiday events like Easter or Memorial Day, Forest Lawn invites you to come see all Forest Lawn has to offer.
The company is preparing to open its first office in Arcadia on Huntington Drive in January.
About April A. Verlato
April Verlato specializes in auto/motorcycle accidents, wrongful death, wills, trusts, and probate, Her office is at 33 E. Huntington Drive where she is also one of the leaders of the recently created Community Benefits District to revive the Arcadia Downtown area centered at First and Huntington.
