City Prepares for Attleboro's Winter Night Festival

Back by popular demand, is the second annual , a night for the Attleboro community to enjoy the festivities of winter without leaving the city.

For the first time officials last year, with help from local businesses and sponsors, organized the Winter Night Festival, which brought thousands of people to the downtown area for activities, food and fun.

Because of its success in 2010 and feedback from residents who asked for another city festival, Mayor Kevin Dumas and a group of organizers again began planning the Winter Night Festival, which is free and open to all.

Dumas, along with Nancy Young of Mim Brooks Fawcett of the Attleboro Arts Museum, Dianne Thurber of Cardinal Marketing and Jim Jones and Joshua Perry at Double ACS, have been busy planning the four-hour event slated for Saturday, Feb. 26, from 5 to 9 p.m.

 The group of organizers worked together to highlight things that are special in the Attleboro community and included them in a winter theme. The event is a lot of work and requires a lot of money – $16,000 to be exact – to put together, according to Dumas, but the team of organizers felt it was necessary.

 “It’s an opportunity for everyone to come out,” Dumas said. “It gives a sense of pride to people in the community and it highlights and showcases the great things in Attleboro.”

“We said we would do it one time and do it well and to make sure that it is family-based quality event.”

The group plans to accomplish that with its family-focused itinerary, which includes face painting, hayrides, storytime, music and much more. 

Two giant snow globes, which cost $8,000 and are sponsored by will be the main attraction at the festival. One globe will be used as a scenic background for photos and the other will be used for children’s snowy playtime.

The Attleboro Arts Museum is hosting a winter arts and craft fair, which will include photographs and handcrafted items made by locals. The fair would not be Attleboro focused without jewelry for sale. Bracelets, purses, pendants and many more jewelry items will be for sale during the craft fair. All sales, which can be made with cash or check only, benefit the vendors.

For those who want to warm up during the Winter Night Festival, there will be an outdoor bonfire on the lawn of the Attleboro Arts Museum at 86 Park St., where attendees will be treated to a performance by fire jugglers. Reynolds and Markman donated the firewood for the grand bonfire.

Illustrator and portrait artist Adam Cristaldi will be providing free caricatures at the Museum and there will be free face painting on the first floor of provided by Art on the Spot.

For those who want silly photos, there will be a “Your Face Here” photo opportunity, where people put their face in a cutout of life-size frames.

Families are encouraged to take a spin around the festival grounds on a free tractor ride thanks to Ed Liston Landscaping. Rides will be available from 5 to 9 p.m. and start at the corner of Union and Park streets.

Comfort food from , , , , and   will be available for “friendly” prices.

Other events and activities include:

• jewelry sale and exhibition (5-9 p.m.), first floor, Registry of Deeds;
• Attleboro Lincoln re-enactors (5-9p.m.), first floor, Registry of Deeds;
• reading by the fire with The Literacy Cetner (5-8 p.m.)  outdoors, Park Street;
• live music-drummers (5-6 p.m.), outdoors on the lawn of Art Museum;
• winter crafts with Attleboro girl scouts (5-6:30 p.m.), first floor, Attleboro City Hall;
• ice sculpting (5-7 p.m.), steps of Registry of Deeds
• fire show (6-8p.m.), corner of Pine and Park streets
• Zumba by Attleboro YMCA (6:15 p.m.-6:45 p.m.), across from Registry of Deeds
• campfire songs with Attleboro girl scouts (6:45 p.m.-7 p.m.), lawn of Arts Museum 
• guitarist (5-7 p.m.), first floor, City Hall
• Frank Sinatra tribute (7-8p.m.), first floor, City Hall.