Photo provided.

BLOOMINGTON — For a second year in a row, the annual Festival of Trees fundraising event will be held at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

Last year, The Baby Fold moved its major fundraising event from the Interstate Center, 2301 W. Market St., Bloomington, to the U.S. Cellular Coliseum, 101 S. Madison St., Bloomington, and set an event record in attendance with 13,500 visitors.
Festival of Trees will have a new layout and new attractions when it returns to the U.S. Cellular Coliseum November 11-13.
 “We’ve changed up the Coliseum quite a bit,” said Diane Shepherd, special events coordinator for The Baby Fold. “We moved some of the different attractions around and made it a lot easier for our guests to get around to the different events.”
During the 18th Annual Festival of Trees, The Baby Fold will open up more entrances and elevators in the U.S. Cellular Coliseum than it did during last year’s event.
“We’re listening to the community and to our steering committee and really changing it up so that our guests can get around,” said Shepherd.
The Baby Fold will also move the location of its stage as well as its annual attractions, including the Celebrity Place, Gingerbread Village, Jingle Bell Junction, and the gift shop, providing visitors with more space to walk around the uniquely-decorated trees and Christmas displays that will be located on the arena floor.
“It will make it so it is much easier for people to get around — less bottlenecking and more ease for the traffic to flow through,” said Shepherd. “We have a lot more space this year.”
To view a map of the Festival of Trees attractions, visit thebabyfold.net/events/map-of-attractions.
To kick off the Festival of Trees, a Top of the Tree gala will be held at 5 p.m. November 10.
Other special events include the Luther Oaks Senior Social will be held at 8:30 a.m. on November 11, followed by the Balancing Life in Style luncheon at 11:30 a.m. and Avanti’s Family Night at 5:30 p.m. On November 12, Breakfast with Santa Claus will be held at 9 a.m. and the award-winning teenage hip-hop group The Happiness Club will perform at 8 p.m. A Sunday Brunch featuring hot brunch and holiday entertainment will be held from 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. on November 13.
To purchase tickets for special events or daily admission tickets in advance, call The Baby Fold at (309) 451-7254 or visit www.festoftrees.org. Special event tickets can also be purchased the day of the event. Daily general admission tickets for Festival of Trees are $6 in advance and $7 at the door for adults, $2 for children 3-12 and free for children under 3. General admission tickets will provide visitors with admission into the Festival of Trees throughout November 11-13. General admission times are 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. November 11-12 and 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. November 13.
During the Festival of Trees, visitors can purchase uniquely-decorated Christmas trees, such as a stuffed animal tree and plumbing tree, as well as wreaths, crafts, Christmas decorations, sports memorabilia and various other items that will be displayed throughout the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. Visitors can purchase the trees through a silent auction or pay an Angel Price tag that will allow them to purchase it immediately. All of the proceeds from all of the items sold during the Festival of Trees will go to The Baby Fold.
The Baby Fold, a not-for-profit child and family support agency that specializes in holistic healing of children and their families, many of whom suffer from severe emotional and behavioral conditions, raised $208,000 during last year’s Festival of Trees, exceeding its goal of $190,000. The Baby Fold has set a fundraising goal of $218,000 for this year’s event.