Winter events draw raves
10/20/04
By
Keith Lawrence
Messenger-Inquirer
If you think of Owensboro as a summer town, think again.
The Owensboro-Daviess County Tourist Commission has started advertising the city as a "Winter Wonderland."
The Kentucky Tourism Council recently named the 67-year-old Owensboro Christmas Parade and the 27-year-old Holiday Forest at the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art as two of its Top 10 winter/holiday events in the state.
And the Southeast Tourism Society named the Christmas Parade to its Top 20 events for November -- out of more than 1,000 entries.
Karen Miller, the local tourist commission's marketing and communications manager, said that agency has created a rack card listing 17 November and December events in town.
The cards are being distributed at rest stops across Kentucky, she said.
The Christmas parade, which began on Dec. 2, 1937, drew an estimated 10,000 spectators and 112 entries last year.
Organizers say it's the state's largest Christmas parade.
This year's parade will be Nov. 20. The theme is "Christmas in Toyland."
Holiday Forest, scheduled for Nov. 20-Dec. 31 at the art museum, will present "A Frontier Christmas." It includes an exhibition of more than 15 trees designed by regional artists, civic groups and schools.
The Forest attracts several thousand children and adults each year, the museum says.
New this year is the RiverPark Center's Winter Wonderland festival, Dec. 10-Jan. 2.
The center's BB&T Plaza will be turned into an outdoor ice rink overlooking the Ohio River, and Smothers Park will be filled with manmade snow.
A large Christmas tree, outdoor movies, sleigh rides, ice carvings and contests to build snowmen and throw snowballs are planned.
Holiday festival events in Owensboro also include:
 | Nov. 5 -- DO the Hop, free trolley rides and downtown shopping from 6 to 10 p.m. |
| Nov. 6 -- Veterans Parade, 2 p.m. |
| Nov. 6 -- Christmas open houses at gift shops, antique stores and garden shops. |
| Nov. 6 -- "Comedy Pet Theatre" at the RiverPark Center. |
| Nov. 12-14 -- Christmas Holiday Homecoming Arts and Crafts Show at the Executive Inn Rivermont. |
| Nov. 13 -- "World Beat," Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and Brahms' Violin Concerto performed by the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra at the RiverPark Center. |
| Nov. 25-Dec. 31 -- Holiday in the Park, Legion Park comes alive for the 19th consecutive year with holiday lights along the half-mile paved path, lined with giant elves, trees, toys and holiday figures. |
| Nov. 25-Dec. 31 -- Christmas at Panther Creek, an outdoor driving tour with more than 250,000 lights winding through Panther Creek Park. |
| Dec. 3 -- DO the Hop. |
| Dec. 4 -- Owensboro Symphony's "Holiday Home Tour." |
| Dec. 4 -- "The Nutcracker," presented by the Owensboro Dance Theatre. |
| Dec. 10-12, 17-19 -- "Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol" presented by Theatre Workshop of Owensboro. An adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic Christmas tale as told from Marley's perspective. |
| Dec. 12 -- "Home for the Holidays," presented by Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. |
| Dec. 31 -- "Goldie's New Year's Eve Show" at the RiverPark Center. |
| Dec. 31 -- New Year's Eve show at the Executive Inn Rivermont with The Van Dells and The Velvet Bombers. |