For Immediate Release: 11/20/2012 8:31 am
Worcester, MA (November 20, 2012) - Downtown Worcester will be bright with holiday cheer this season. The City of Worcester and the Worcester Cultural Coalition are inviting businesses in the Downtown to participate in the City's first Let There Be Light creative display contest. This storefront business initiative is designed to highlight the Annual Festival of Lights event, which will include the lighting of the tree, the opening of the new ice rink on the Worcester Common Oval, as well as many other festive events taking place in and around the Downtown through the end of December.
The contest will spark creativity, encourage the local public to walk through the Downtown and promote increased community engagement between businesses and the public. In addition, the contest's theme bridges a creative business initiative with the City's long standing Worcester Windows community gallery program. Worcester Windows uses storefronts as exhibit space to enhance the City's Downtown and to provide display opportunities for local emerging and established artists. The combination of the Let There Be Light business competition and Worcester Windows Winter exhibit of the same name will add vibrancy and exuberance to the area throughout the holiday season.
"We are pleased to shine a light fon Worcester's incredible creativity and the contributions that creativity makes in establishing Downtown as a livable, walkable community," said Erin I. Williams, Cultural Development Director.
The Let There Be Light competition will test participating businesses' creativity in three categories: best interpretation of the Let There Be Light theme; most inviting for viewers; and most festive.
Participating businesses must decorate their window displays by November 30th. Beginning on this day, the public will be invited to vote for "Best Window" based upon the criteria stated above. Paper ballots will be available and can be submitted at each participating business location. For window displays without commercial space, paper ballots will be available at the Information Booth inside City Hall, or at the Skate Shack on the Worcester Common Oval. The public can also "like" their favorite entry on Facebook at /WorcesterEventsTheCreativeCity. All voting will end on January 2nd.
Winners will be announced on Saturday, January 12, 2013, at the Worcester Common Oval. The three best windows will also be posted on http://www.worcestermass.org/holidaylights. First place will receive the grand prize of four (4) tickets to the opening night of Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy, donated by the DCU Center. Second place will receive four (4) tickets to a Worcester Sharks game, and third place will receive tickets to a show at The Hanover Theater for the Performing Arts. One lucky voter will also win passes for complimentary skating on the new Worcester Common Oval.
Interested businesses can download registration forms from http://www.worcestermass.org/holidaylights. To participate, businesses must submit registration forms by 5:00 PM on Monday, November 26th to the Cultural Development Office, 455 Main Street, 4th Floor, Worcester, MA 01608 or by email to culture@worcesterma.gov.
