Mishawaka kicks off the holidays with lighted parade, tree lighting, and more at Winterfest

As one of the biggest celebrations of the year, City of Mishawaka Parks and Recreation Department had a host of fun attractions and activities in store for this year’s Winterfest on Saturday, December 6. People from Mishawaka and beyond gathered at Ironworks Plaza at 230 Ironworks Ave. in Mishawaka to begin the festivities at 5 p.m.

“The winter festive event is an all year round planning for us,” said Phil Blasko, Mishawaka Parks and Recreation’s Superintendent. “It’s our second largest event of the year, so there’s a lot of moving parts. The drone show is a new one for us, because those are popular nowadays. We put in the lighted parade three or four years ago, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. It’s so cool to see, because the people that are joining the parade are volunteering their time, decorating their floats, and making it the best experience they can.”

After half an hour of exploring attractions on their own, attendees took in the bright lights of the lighted parade, which began at 5:30 p.m. Attendees were further dazzled with the official tree lighting, a staple of Winterfest each year.

“This is my 15th winter fest, and it started out pretty small, pretty meager,” said Mayor David Wood. “We’ve grown it each and every year. It’s our most important holiday tradition, and it just continues to grow and grow. We could not be more proud to have everybody here show up downtown and get in the holiday spirit.”

Beyond these main events, there were plenty of attractions to enjoy, including a holiday market, fire performers/show, pictures with Santa, an ice sculpture, a South Bend Civic Theatre performance, Zbot Robot, and a drone show. Winterfest also offered a host of hands-on activities fit for the whole family, including face painting, inflatables, trackless train rides, ice carving, and ice skating.

“Walking around and actually seeing vendors sell things and seeing everyone having a good time has been great,” said Eris Roach, an attendee of the event.

Throughout the evening, attendees were able to enjoy a variety of cuisine and drinks from the following food trucks at the event: Crumble Cookie, Chai on The Fly, Coastal Carolina BBQ, PaddyShack Ice Cream, Keim’s Elephant Ear Express, Rico Suave, The Prized Pig, Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee, and Pretty Dirty Soda’s.

“I have a family that’s from here, so I’m always down in the area,” said Julie Quick, owner of the food truck Sourdough Heaven. “We had been looking for a farmers market we wanted to be involved in, and we saw the Mishawaka farmers market, so it all started out there. We pretty much just kind of built the clientele in this area at that point.”

For more information about the City of Mishawaka Parks and Recreation Department and its annual community events, visit mishawaka.in.gov and follow the department’s Facebook account.