Chamber of Commerce to Hold Virtual Festival of Trees

ZANESVILLE, Ohio-The annual Festival of Trees will still be held this year by the Muskingum County Chamber of Commerce on December 4th. 

Due to safety concerns over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the event will be held virtually instead of in person. The event may have changed but chamber president Dana Matz says the event will still be a festive fun filled time. 

“Given our current situation we are planning on a virtual event for the Festival of Trees. A lot of plans going on right now trying to figure out express drop-offs, so the least amount of contact. We still plan to be live on the radio, AM 1240 like we do every year, so that won’t change. Audience participation will be the thing that will change. What we’re working on is how to have images of the entries available on a website, and then whether there’s some live feed going on also.”

Matz plans on having over 200 different entries of wreaths, trees and stockings. Those looking to enter the festival can apply on the chamber website and can be dropped off at locations to be announced later. 

“Each year we have close to 200 entries. They are Christmas trees, Christmas wreaths, stockings and other categories. Art pieces and those types of things. If people are more comfortable, we are definitely going to encourage them to use local floral shops, gift shops and businesses and then have them put the stuff together and drop off, and that will eliminate as many people coming down to the building.”

All proceeds from the event will help the chamber with operating costs for the upcoming year.