The third edition of Jingle Fest is scheduled to return on Nov. 11 at Central Park from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the Santa Clarita Valley Veterans Collaborative and Strawberry & Fig working together to put on the event.
As the event was scheduled to take place on Veterans Day, Tammy Rosson-Wheeler, owner of Strawberry & Fig, raised the question to Jeff Stabile, a member of the Veterans Collaborative board of directors, to have the Veterans Collaborative be involved with the planning.
“When Tammy came in and gave the background, I was just thrilled at the size of the crowd, because close to 10,000 people had come in and it was one of the largest events in Santa Clarita,” Stabile said. “And we said, ‘Absolutely, we’d love to partner with you and be part of it.’”
Last year, the event featured 230 local vendors. According to Rosson-Wheeler, there will be more than 270 local vendors at this year’s event.
“It’s definitely the biggest holiday shopping event in Santa Clarita,” Rosson-Wheeler said.
Along with shopping, attendees can expect a dance floor, a DJ from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a performance from Rebel Heart, a local country band, from 2 to 5 p.m.
Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, is scheduled to announce the Veteran of the Year during a special tribute to veterans at 1:30 p.m., according to Rosson-Wheeler.
Santa Claus is also set to be at the event for photo opportunities. Stabile said that members of the Veterans Collaborative will also be dressing up as Star Wars characters for photo opportunities.
Food trucks will be at the event for attendees.
Stabile said that an event like this is important for the Veterans Collaborative, which relies on donations and grants to function.
“We survive on donations and grants and things like that,” Stabile said. “We’re not funded by anybody. So, a program like this is really important to us and that’s why we wanted to be involved. Also, it helps us with outreach to the community because we’ll have a booth there. We’ll have our literature and we’ll have collaborative members to answer questions for any of the veterans or their families.”
