Jingle and Mingle encourages community to shop local

Saturday, the Winchester Jingle and Mingle took place from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. at the Many Friends Parklet.

WINCHESTER, Ky. (WTVQ) – One community is encouraging people to shop local for their Christmas gifts.

Saturday, Winchester’s Jingle and Mingle in the Many Friends Parklet had about eight area vendors, as well as Santa Claus.

Kids could also write letters to Santa and there was a coloring station for kids while people shopped.

According to Main Street Winchester’s Executive Director, seeing the kids is the best part of bringing the community out for Jingle and Mingle.

“When you have Santa Claus and then you have the kids, we have a letter-writing station they can put them in, and they can write letters to Santa, we have coloring pages we give out, and just to see the kids, how excited they are about seeing Santa Claus, it’s really special,” said Main Street Winchester Executive Directer Rachael Boyd.

According to Boyd, this year’s Jingle and Mingle and last year’s were both outside due to the pandemic.

“It’s been outdoors for the past two years because of COVID. And normally we have it indoors with our small businesses downtown. But our small businesses are open,” said Boyd.

Boyd says the community normally shows out to support their local businesses, and this year wasn’t any different.

“More than ever, especially with shipping issues, bypass all that and stay local. Your local businesses will have everything you need…there’s something special about shopping local and keeping it local for the holiday season,” said Boyd.

The event went from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.