Enjoy Winter Festival Fun This Weekend
Road Closures and Detours to Impact Traffic Near Downtown
November 29, 2017
Saturday, Dec. 2, is the 31st annual Winter Festival - a Celebration of Lights, Music and the Arts! Taking place from 3 - 10 p.m. in beautiful downtown Tallahassee, this event is expected to draw more than 100,000 people to the area. Visitors can enjoy a stroll through Candy Cane Lane, hands-on arts and crafts in the children's activity area on Kleman Plaza, five stages of live entertainment, delicious treats from food vendors and so much more!
At 6 p.m., the lighting ceremony will occur on the Parade Judge's Platform located on South Monroe Street at Bloxham Park.
Immediately after the lights go on at 6:15 p.m., thousands of runners decked out in festive attire will take off on the Capital Health Plan Jingle Bell Run. The course takes runners around downtown and completes where it began at Park Avenue and Monroe Street.
If you want to run but haven't registered yet, there's still time! Day-of-event registration will begin Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Capital City Bank parking lot located at the corner of Monroe and Tennessee streets. The fee is $20 for all ages on race day and is payable only by cash or check.
At 7:15 p.m. when the final runners have crossed the finish line, the street will be flooded with holiday cheer as the Nighttime Holiday Parade marches down the road. The parade route runs along Monroe Street from Tennessee to Madison streets and features over 65 entries.
The Winter Festival is coordinated by the City of Tallahassee's Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs Department (PRNA). For more information about the 2017 Winter Festival, please visit Talgov.com or call PRNA at 891-FUNN (3866).
Road Closures
Patrons attending Winter Festival are advised to arrive downtown as early as possible. Parking is available for a fee at the Kleman Plaza parking garage (Bronough Street entrance only), as well as the parking garage located at 215 South Calhoun Street. There will be plenty of free on-street parking throughout downtown, except for on streets closed for the event. In addition, nearby state-owned parking garages will be open and free of charge. Handicap parking is available along Calhoun Street between Park Avenue and Call Street, as well as at 300 E. Park Avenue.
The following downtown streets will be closed Saturday as part of Winter Festival.
- Adams Street between Park and Jefferson streets, 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
- Park and College avenues between Monroe and Bronough streets, 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
- Duval Street between Pensacola and Call streets, 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
- Monroe Street between Tennessee and Brevard streets, 4 - 10:30 p.m.
- Virginia, Georgia and Carolina streets between Adams and Calhoun streets, 4 - 10:30 p.m.
- Monroe Street between Tennessee Street and Oakland Avenue, 5 - 10:30 p.m.
- Tennessee Street between Calhoun and Adams streets, 5 - 10:30 p.m.
- Call Street and Park and College avenues between Calhoun and Bronough streets, 5 - 10:30 p.m.
- Jefferson and Pensacola streets between Monroe and Bronough streets, 5 - 10:30 p.m.
- Gaines Street from Gadsden and Bronough streets, 5 - 10:30 p.m.
Beginning at 5 p.m., motorists traveling west on Apalachee Parkway from Franklin Boulevard will be limited.
Additionally, the Florida State Seminoles have a home football game that begins at noon on December 2, which will create heavy traffic near campus and downtown. While the usual pre-game traffic pattern will stay the same, the post-game traffic pattern will be altered due to the above Winter Festival road closures. Motorists leaving the football game and arriving downtown for Winter Festival between 3 - 6 p.m. should expect heavy congestion. Motorists are advised to use caution and obey directions from traffic enforcement officers.
For a complete map of road closures and impacts associated with Winter Festival and the Florida State Seminoles football game, please visit Talgov.com.
StarMetro's Saturday routes will also be impacted by the road closures. The Trolley route, which will operate from 6 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., will also be impacted. Please call StarMetro at 891-5200 or visit Talgov.com/Detours for route detour information. StarMetro route detours will begin when the Tallahassee Police Department starts shutting down roads.
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