Dublin rings in another year of holiday cheer this December with a social calendar full of activities guaranteed to generate all types of winter magic. Two fan favorite events return to the community, with the 12 Days of Bridge Park and 12 Elves of Dublin ready for another successful run.
12 Days of Bridge Park
The 12 Days of Bridge Park brings non-stop fun with holiday themed events running every Thursday to Sunday from Nov. 30-Dec. 17.
Hit North Market at Bridge Park for the Holiday Market or join Fado Pub & Kitchen for brunch with Santa. All 12 days offer something for all ages, and the entire family can get into the holiday spirit.
Adults who prefer to include actual spirits can look forward to the return of the popular Ugly Sweater Bar Crawl. After running to the nearest store and grabbing the most atrocious sweater you can find, show it off sipping and strolling through Bridge Park and Historic Dublin.
Participants can pick up a passport to carry with them throughout the entirety of the crawl and get it stamped at each participating location. By the end of the night, they can either take home the souvenir, or turn it in to be entered in a giveaway.
“Last year we printed around 500 passports and were out of them within the first hour,” Kinnedy Kuhn, communications and marketing specialist for the event, says. “It’s great because everyone gets so invested in what they’re doing. They get dressed up and really go all out which just makes it an even better time.”
For holiday cheer geared toward little ones, meet Santa at Keystone Park. Children can deliver
their wish lists directly to the man in red himself and tell Santa what they want this year.
12 Elves of Dublin
Looking for another kid friendly event or fun date idea? Historic Dublin has you covered as it brings back its own version of Elf on the Shelf for the 12 Elves of Dublin. In this version, elves have left their spot on the shelf and can be found all over Historic Dublin.
The event runs from Dec. 4-23 and families get to put their boots on the ground and explore the city as they go on a scavenger hunt for 12 elves hiding throughout Historic Dublin businesses.
Families can pick up a card from the Dublin Visitor & Information Center or one of the participating businesses and carry it with them as they start their search. After finding the elf at each stop, participants get a small prize and an initial on their card. The prizes include everything from candy to bouncy balls that reward the finder for each successful elf spotting.
“We’ll get anywhere from 500-800 families that come through and participate,” Sharon Adamek, event and marketing coordinator with the Historic Dublin Business Association, says. “It’s a great way to engage the district and people in and around the community.”
After all 12 elves have been accounted for, the completed card can be turned in to any participating business and participants are entered into a grand prize basket giveaway that includes add-ins from each of the stops.
The search doesn’t have to be completed all in one day and participants are welcome to start and stop at their own convenience. There is no cost to join in the scavenger hunt or route that needs to be followed, making this a fun and low-pressure winter activity.
“Sometimes the simple things are just the best,” Adamek says. “Families get to go out with no skin in the game and just enjoy themselves and businesses get foot traffic and free publicity.”
Bigger Impact
For Dublin businesses, the 12 Days of Bridge Park and 12 Elves of Dublin leave a lasting impression even once the holiday season has come to a close. The participating businesses find that the foot traffic and publicity from the December events help to bring business into the new year.
The Dublin Toy Emporium has been a participating business for years and Enas Lanham, the store owner, loves the energy it brings to her shop.
“Some people don’t even know about us until they come in for this event,” Lanham says. “I get excited about it because it’s so inviting and makes the place feel extra lively.”
While the kids search, it’s also a great opportunity for parents to shop with minimal distraction. Participating businesses also change each year, exposing shoppers to new places and vice versa.
“People can be intimidated to walk into somewhere they’re not familiar with but will go in for the elves and return later because something caught their eye,” Adamek says. “It really does have a little something that can appeal to anyone.”
That new awareness and interest is something many businesses also experience thanks to the 12 Days of Bridge Park events.
“People from all over come out for certain events like the Holiday Market and the Ugly Sweater Bar Crawl,” Lauren Kocsis, Bridge Park event coordinator, says. “It is definitely a great way for people who don’t live in Dublin to see all of what the city has to offer.”
The momentum that builds all the events would not be possible without the participation of Dublin businesses and citizens alike.
“One of the biggest purposes behind events like these is to show off community and I think that’s why they’re so successful,” Kuhn says. “We build the events around the community and their excitement in putting it on is what drives us to do it again.”
Ainsley Allen is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
