Holidazzle will make its triumphant return to downtown Minneapolis this December, but the traditional nighttime parade will not be part of the festivities..
Holidazzle will return to Nicollet Mall in 2024
The 30-plus-year festival has been held at Loring Park since 2014.
By Leo Pomerenke
October 3, 2024 at 5:52PM
For the first time in 10 years, the classic holiday festival will be held at Nicollet Mall, from 6th Street to Peavey Plaza. It was previously held at Loring Park. The event heads back to the heart of downtown Minneapolis at a time when the city’s core is still struggling to redefine itself after the blows of the pandemic and subsequent retail losses.
“I’m excited to have it back down here,” said Adam Duininck, President and CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council, which runs the event. “I think people are going to be blown away by what they see.”
But, unlike previous years, a nighttime parade will not be part of the Holidazzle agenda.
“Parades are both expensive and costly, and we’ve gotten strong feedback from the community to have more of a festival that’s interactive,” Duninck said. “People can kind of walk up and down Nicollet and experience it for themselves.”
What it will have is lights, art, shops, vendors, entertainment stages, music, Santa, among other things that are currently in the works.
“We’re looking into having fire pits, some fair style rides, which we used to do in Loring Park...interactive light shows,” Duininck said. “We’re still working on pulling all this together.”
Holidazzle will “double down” on being family friendly, and there will be more of a focus on it being a festival and marketplace.
Other absences could be an ice skating rink, which is to-be-determined, according to Duininck.
“It’s a challenge logistically to do it on the mall,” he said. “We do want to explore it, and it also might be something that we look at in future years if we’re able to.”
The Minneapolis Downtown Council has had a renewed focus on Nicollet Mall, having done numerous events over the summer, including Taste of Minnesota, the USA Gymnastics Trials and Downtown Thursdays.
“I think there’s just a renewed energy around trying to mobilize activity at Nicollet Mall,” Duininck said.
Hollidazzle will coincide with other events in downtown, including concerts at the Hennepin Arts, Guthrie, Fine Line and Dakota. There will be two Timberwolves games at Target Center, including Karl-Anthony Towns’ return to Minnesota when the team faces the New York Knicks on December 19.
“We want to encourage people, if you’re going to the game, come early and enjoy what we have to offer,” Duininck said.
Holidazzle started in 1992, the same year Mall of America opened, to lure holiday shoppers to downtown Minneapolis. The festival was moved to Loring Park in 2014 to create more of a holiday marketplace. It was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID and 2023 due to a lack of funds and a change in leadership for the Minneapolis Downtown Council.
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Leo Pomerenke
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