Jingle Days set to kick off in Topeka for the holiday season
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Visit Topeka is partnering with local businesses to do something new this holiday season. It's a way to check out the area's best seasonal events - with some competition thrown in for fun!
Topeka Jingle Days is a new way for people to enjoy some of the city's best holiday attractions and events. Starting Nov. 14, participants can pick up their Topeka Jingle Days passport to get into the local holiday spirit.
27 News spoke with Visit Topeka's India Yarborough about where they got the idea for this festive partnership.
"We have really been thinking about how great the holidays are in Topeka at large," Yarborough said. "We have so many things across the community. But sometimes people go to their favorites and they have their annual tradition, but they don't necessarily get outside of their bubble and explore those other traditions in the area that are just so amazing as well. It really all comes down to making memories here in Topeka with your friends, with your family. And this just gives you kind of a more formal way to do that."
The event brings together ten local winter traditions and attractions. Collect stamps in your passport to keep track of the places you visit. The Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center is one of the stops on the passport.
Jennifer Goetz with Compass Marketing & Advertising Partners spoke with us about the zoo's participation.
"The Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center is part of the Jingle Days promotion because it is the fifth year of zoo lights this year," Goetz said. "There are lots of really cool new things that they have incorporated into zoo lights this year, and it just really felt like a no brainer to be part of the Jungle Days Passport."
Goetz gave us the inside scoop on the new additions to the fifth year of Topeka Zoo Lights without giving away too many surprises.
"There might be a few things associated with a galaxy far, far away, just a few kinds of, you know, Zooville-type things that could be really, really interesting and really just have expanded the footprint," Goetz said. "There's some animation going on some of the animal barns with lights and shows, so they've got a lot of really cool new things in store for year five."
Those who visit at least six participating events will be entered into the Topeka Jingle Days sweepstakes.
"The prize is going to include a two-night stay for four at the Cyrus Hotel in downtown Topeka as well as two dinners for four at the AIM Strategies restaurant of your choice," Yarborough said.
Participants must bring their passports to the welcome center by Jan. 10, 2025, to enter the sweepstakes, which is one entry per card.
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