2016 Holly Day Market board
The 2016 Holly Day Market board includes Katherine Wade, Julie Booher, Jada Newsome, Elizabeth Perry, Jessica Stigall (bottom row, l-r) and Allison Dye, Danielle Story, Marlena Stephens amd Megan Crane (top row l-r).
Each year, as seasonal fall color starts to blanket the Bluegrass, the Junior League of Lexington starts to amp up the planning process up for its annual weekend of holiday festivities. This year’s Holly Day Market – the organization’s signature holiday market – will be in full swing Dec. 2-4 at Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Founded in 1924, the Junior League of Lexington is “committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.” While well-known for their charity horse show, which celebrated its 80th anniversary in July, the Junior League began the Holly Day Market as its second large-scale event to raise funds to further its mission. Featuring local and regional vendors, daily events and more, the market has donated approximately $162,000 to community projects in central Kentucky to date. The organization hopes to raise over $50,000 with this year’s event, through admission sales, sponsorships, leasing merchant booth space, and a party scheduled at 21c Museum Hotel on Dec. 3, to celebrate the market’s 10th anniversary.
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Organized by the Junior League of Lexington, the annual Holly Day Market features dozens of local and regional vendors, providing a one-stop shop for holiday decor, presents and more.
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Organized by the Junior League of Lexington, the annual Holly Day Market features dozens of local and regional vendors, providing a one-stop shop for holiday decor, presents and more.
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Organized by the Junior League of Lexington, the annual Holly Day Market features dozens of local and regional vendors, providing a one-stop shop for holiday decor, presents and more.
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Organized by the Junior League of Lexington, the annual Holly Day Market features dozens of local and regional vendors, providing a one-stop shop for holiday decor, presents and more.
The brainchild of two women, former Junior League president Taylor Fister and Elizabeth “Eli” Kessler Mitchell, who served as the event’s first chair, the Holly Day Market launched in 2007 after almost two years of planning. “There was so much planning to be done both internally and externally, and we wanted the first market to feel like our 10th – not thrown together without thinking everything through,” said Amy Griffin, who served as the first Holly Day Market vice-chair.
“Having college friends who were involved in the Jackson, Mississippi Mistletoe Marketplace, I was familiar with other Junior League markets,” said Griffin. “Eli and I attended a two-day workshop at the Austin, Texas, 2006 market and came back full of inspiration.”
The first Holly Day Market committee mmebers also talked to six other Junior Leagues all over the country – from Wichita, Kansas, to Tyler, Texas – to learn more about their market successes, annual attendance, organization size and monies raised.
The very first market showcased 53 vendors in a 16,000- square-foot tent, decorated from top to bottom. Several local vendors have been involved since day one, but the majority of vendors came from outside the local area during the first few years. The Holly Day Market has become more of a local vendor market in the years since its inception, according to Griffin.
In only a few short years, the Holly Day Market really took off, adding dozens of vendors and new features, such as a preview party, a fashion show and wreath auction. After outgrowing its original space at the horse park, the Junior League was forced to find another venue, moving for the first time in 2009 to Heritage Hall in the Lexington Convention Center, where it hosted over 70 vendors that year. As attendance has grown, the market has moved locations a few other times before settling in 2012 into its current space – back at the Kentucky Horse Park in the newly expanded Alltech Arena. The event’s first year back at the horse park saw over 2,500 market-goers, nearly doubling that attendance in 2014 with over 4,000 visitors that year.
This year’s Holly Day Market will spotlight approximately 90 vendors. With a blend of local boutiques, such as Peggy’s, Two Chicks and Kentucky Branded, and national vendors selling everything from clothing for men, women and children, to toys, books, jewelry, ornaments, candles, art, food and more, the market has become known for being a one-stop place to shop holiday gifts. Beyond that, the market also focuses on providing a unique experience for the entire family, this year featuring everything from fitness classes to pet photos with Santa.
The Junior League has also tried a few different ways of celebrating the kick-off of the market each year. “When we first started we did something called the ‘preview party,’ on Thursday night,” said Liz Toombs, 2013 Holly Day Market chair.
A Thursday night “preview party” soon morphed into a VIP party, held on Friday night instead of Thursday. Both events were intended to provide a fun cocktail hour, while allowing attendees to get a jump start on their shopping. This year, in commemoration of the event’s 10th anniversary, the Junior League will throw a party at the 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Lexington on Saturday, Dec. 3. Tickets include valet parking, a Kendra Scott “Jewelry Pull” that consists of “mystery boxes” containing jewelry valued anywhere from $75 to $150 dollars, a silent auction, appetizers, a champagne toast and more.
Each year at the Holly Day Market, the Junior League also announces which agencies will be awarded funding for the coming year. In 2015, the organization awarded $30,000 in grants to 12 community agencies, which included Baby Health Service, GleanKY and The Plantory, among others.
It’s this focus on giving back that really sets the annual market apart, said Katherine Wade, who serves as the current chair of the event.
“There are other Christmas markets or markets geared toward holiday shopping, but ours is unique because we raise money for the community,” said Wade. “All of our profits are going back to support the non-profits that the Junior League funds.”
More info and tickets to this year’s Holly Day Market and VIP party are available at lexjrleague.org.